[ SECRET POST #5457 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5457 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 20 secrets from Secret Submission Post #781.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. https://i.imgur.com/MC0tFdk.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly I prefer this one:

https://stevenpinker.com/publications/sense-style-thinking-persons-guide-writing-21st-century

[(Anonymous)]

Isn't he a friend of Epstein?

[feotakahari]

For prose that sounds good, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables covers a multitude of ills. It worked for Shakespeare, and it will work for you.

[(Anonymous)]

... is that not required reading in schools anymore?

[(Anonymous)]

Required reading? Not for 30 years or more, my elderly or time-traveling friend.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

Well now I feel old. But I suppose that’s probably about right - I was in high school in the early 90s.

[(Anonymous)]

I was in high school in the late 90s/early 00s and it was still required reading then.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT I was in high school at the same time and it was not taught at my school.

[(Anonymous)]

I was in high school in the mid/late nineties. Took AP writing in my senior year and everything. I'm pretty sure this book was in the reference section in the library, but it was definitely not required reading at any point.

[(Anonymous)]

I was in high school in the mid-80's and nobody even mentioned this book (including my creative writing teacher and senior comp teacher), much less required we read it....

[(Anonymous)]

I was in high school in the mid-90s and this book was never mentioned in any of my classes, but I did IB and we seemed to spend more time studying literature than grammar and writing, which in retrospect is not an approach I'm a fan of. I feel like my ability to write a persuasive essay by the time I graduated was in spite of rather than because of the curriculum. I think if we'd have just skipped one of the multiple Shakespeare plays we read (do you really need to do more than one comedy and one tragedy? No, you do not) and learned to diagram sentences instead we would have all been better off.

[tree_and_leaf]

And it never was in a myriad of English-speaking countries that are not the USA.

[(Anonymous)]

I gave Elements of Style a go once, but honestly I've never been a fan of "how to write" type of books. I just find it hard to translate the advice into actual writing, so I wind up getting frustrated and feel like I've wasted my time.

Honestly, the old cliche "the best writers are readers" thing is honestly how I feel like I ended up improving the most. I mean, it helps that I've always been someone who reads a lot for fun, but when I started getting really serious about improving my writing I also began to really think about what I liked and what I disliked about different books and short stories I read. I won't say that reading a bunch is the easiest or most effective way of improving your writing, but it worked for me. Especially those massive short story collections of like "Best Science Fiction Short Stories of X Year" - it's a great way to get a bunch of different styles and tones that are considered really good and start to develop an actual preference of your own.

[(Anonymous)]

OT but damn, I hate it when the authors' names are bigger than the title on a book cover.

[(Anonymous)]

I think in this case, it's equally known or arguably better known as "Strunk & White"

[(Anonymous)]

(Cozy Werewolf Anon)

My favorite is Writer's Little Book of Wisdom by John Long.

Sadly out of print, but you can find it on ABE books. Perfect for the ADHD brain b/c it's all in little chunks.

[(Anonymous)]

Ooh, thanks CWA!

[(Anonymous)]

I run my fics through Grammarly now, and I think it’s been a great help to catch random grammar mistakes and missing words. I’ve found it easier to discuss plot and character with fandom friends to work out that aspect of fic and then use Grammarly for the technical aspect.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, the basic advice is good but a lot of the grammar is either overly prescriptive or simply out of date. (This is the same White who wrote "Charlotte's Web", which I think breaks many of the rules here!)

[cuddyclothes]

Yes to this SO hard! One quote my spouse and I repeat to each other: Omit needless words!