[ SECRET POST #2238 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2238 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07. [posted twice]


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 097 secrets from Secret Submission Post #320.
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

[(Anonymous)]

A lot of classics are written in a style that makes me gag while reading. Same reason I hate reading Shakespeare. I don't like iambic pentameter! I hate poetry too! Rewrite it in contemporary style and then I might be on board, because right now I have no idea what the fuck is going on!

Repeat until the end of time, because this same complaint has likely been used since the dawn of written literature.

[(Anonymous)]

I was commenting earlier that a lot of classics are written in styles that would get you tarred and feathered in fanfiction circles. First person, third person omniscient, change viewpoints every other paragraph, in rhyme, put down the thesaurus and no one gets hurt, super-perfect Mary Sue characters, wallowing, lousy unrealistic dialogue, bizarre grammar, stylistic grandstanding, let's not go into the problematic-because-they're-dated aspects...

[(Anonymous)]

It's one thing to write in... for lack of a better turn of phrase, "grown-up" style. If I'm writing something more serious, then I will drop the contractions. I will not write interjections, and I will write in a way that conveys I mean Serious Business (or more elegantly)

But you can still date the writing to now. And you can date "Little Women" to the mid-19th century, and Jules Verne to the "science?! How do?!" period of history, and Sherlock Holmes to the turn of the century (actually, ACD writes in a way that I think evolved into more contemporary fiction. I think the Holmes canon is the only "classic" literature I've read that I didn't roll my eyes at the prose)

[(Anonymous)]

What is wrong with writing being dated? Oh, the horror, writing styles evolve... People think differently - unbelievable!
And any style of writing that isn't similar to today's styles is worth rolling your eyes at, seriously?

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, I would say no, it's not. But when people are used to acting as critics and absolutely shredding stories with a writing style they dislike, is it surprising that they then apply the same criteria in other contexts?

[(Anonymous)]

There's nothing wrong with it. I just don't want to read it if I need a Dictionary of Historic Slang by my side through the entire process. :/

[(Anonymous)]

I actually enjoy that. The slang in pulp crime, for example, is fascinating. And it's extremely funny to realise, once you've learned some Shakespearean English, exactly how bawdy and filthy some of his stuff is. The pinnacle of English literature, and he had this habit of telling really dirty jokes and making really bad puns.

[(Anonymous)]

And that's great if you understand it. To the rest of us, Shakespeare's just making up words or stringing together insults that don't make sense, usually before somebody has a long monologue and slits their wrists with seemingly no warning.

I just...can't read some of that stuff. Tried, and can't. Sorry.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

Fair enough. I have a fascinating for archaic language, but not everyone has the same. (Actually very few do, I think, don't worry about it).

[(Anonymous)]

OK, I can see why you'd not want to read Shakespeare (then again that's what seeing plays is for - sometimes they put in handy gestures).
But from the 18th century, stuff is usually fairly readable. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm ESL, so I'm used to not understanding everything, but... not understanding everything is fine. If you don't understand a word, eventually it'll get repeated enough times that you get the general meaning, or it isn't and then it just wasn't important.