Sunday No Snippet

[forestofglory]

I finished a draft of the fic I posted a snippet of last week, but its so short that there's not really a good new snippet to share.

But I like posting on Sunday to muse about writing so here are some things I've been thinking about. I've love to hear any thoughts you might have on these matters.

What makes prose good? Like on the sentence level? I've become more aware of the prose in the fic that I read since I started writing it. I've noticed that I like some of it better, and find some of it easier to read, but I can't really identify what traits make me enjoy prose.

I've been thinking about the difference between writing non-fiction and fiction and they are actually surprisingly similar, which confuses me. One thing that is different though is that I have to think lot harder about how much to say between the words. With non-fiction i have learned that if I haven't said something in so many words people won't know that I thought it. But with fic its harder. For example in fic form close third POV sometimes have very clear ideas exactly what the other characters are thinking but of course I can't just come out and say it.

I guess that's food for thought.

Comments

[bonibaru]

This is such a good question and I wish I had a good answer. Words fit together sometimes in ways that are just so beautiful. But how? HOW? I wish I knew.

[clevermanka]

I was just talking about this yesterday with my house partner! To me, my essay brain and fiction brains are at opposite ends of the writing spectrum. When I'm writing fiction, I want to condense my thoughts into as tightly-packed a punch as possible. Essays, however, I want to pick everything apart and examine each facet separately.

I discovered the fiction writing side of my brain entirely by accident last year and am still waiting for the essay writing end of my brain to come back online.

ETA: Sorry, got distracted by food XD and forgot to add that idk what makes prose good, either! For me it's one of those "I know it when I see it" things.

[forestofglory]

Oh, interesting. I still having figured out what I'm try to do when I write fic -- I just fail at it until it seems ok.

But I'm finding the feeling of sitting down to write fic or criticism is not as different that I would have thought.

Though the criticism I write now is very different what formal essays I wrote -- I've had to train myself to write informally and subjectively.

[vintagewitch]

For me it really matters if it's 1st person or 3rd person POV. I prefer writing in 3rd person, but like to have a "voice" for the character.

Like, in my Drarry fic ideally Draco's POV will have sharper vocabulary, with a side of sneer. Harry's will be more rounded tones. But that's like, IDEAL and it nearly never happens.

Another thing to think of: If there are specific motifs or words. I'm thinking of peppering in some motifs - like collections of related symbols. Like for Harry, the motif is around ravens, keys, etc, whereas for Draco it's more around memory and boxes.

[forestofglory]

Thank you! I love the idea of motifs -- I'm going to have to try that some time.

So far I've only done one POV per fic -- switching around sounds like a challenge.

[lunabee34]

I feel like sentence variation is a huge part of what makes prose work for me. Too many long sentences with multiple clauses each together, and it's too dense and convoluted. Too many short sentences together, and it's too choppy or singsongy or elementary. Good prose has a nice mix.

[forestofglory]

Ah ha! This is nice advice because its something very concrete that I can focus on.

[lunabee34]

*high five*

:)

[owlmoose]

I definitely agree with this. I tend toward run-on sentences in my own writing, so it's a thing I have to look out for. But there's nothing wrong with the occasional run-on as long as you mix it up.

[lunabee34]

I completely agree.

I imprinted hard on Margaret Atwood and Ouida (a Victorian writer), and I love love love love the list and the stacked clause. But sometimes one must insert a short, declarative sentence amongst the multitude of clauses. LOL

[enemyofperfect]

This is such an interesting question to consider! I think I tend to enjoy fiction that has striking visual description and metaphors, as long as it isn't layered on so thickly that I start to feel lost and overwhelmed. I also enjoy prose that conveys a lot about the character's (or writer's) personality and opinions, which I think is often achieved by describing things in very subjective terms. And especially in non-fiction, the word "lucid" often comes to mind when I'm really impressed by the sentence-level writing of a piece, but it's hard to unpack what I mean by that. I guess that things are expressed clearly and simply -- with eloquence that doesn't need to be ornate.

[forestofglory]

Thanks this is super useful food for thought.

[owlmoose]

I've talked with justira about this a few times, and one thing they often bring up is flow. It's hard to describe exactly what that means, though -- it's sort of a "you know it when you see it" thing. I think what lunabee34 above says is part of it -- not chopping up your prose into short sentences or getting lost in long, convoluted sentence structures. Another aspect is word choice. Is your language too simple for what you're trying to say, or is it too dense? Striking those kinds of balances is a challenge.

[forestofglory]

Oh flow is a good word! I think a lot of the prose that I struggle to read lacks flow and I get tangled up in things.

[cranky_x_crocus]

Love that you've been posting Sundays to muse about writing - a thing I should think about!

For me the biggest thing in prose is probably sentence structure first, actual words second. My brain gets Incredibly Bored to see the same rhythmic sentence over and over again - no variation or pause. It's my problem with the "bla bla bla bla, bla bla" sentence that comes up so often in a row with the comma-splice. I want some short sentences. I want some longer lines I have to think about; some that make me pay attention to the grammar of the thing.

For the rest, it depends very much on genre, setting, & the story itself. I don't mind losing out on big words if a protag is too young, or doesn't know them, or doesn't prefer them; I can love accessibility of language. Equally I love underlining new words to learn or seeing phrases used in new ways. I love when a story fits to itself in regards to prose itself - depends very much on how the story's being told. A million tiny things might make prose feel/sound/look awesome but what's likely to make me consider it Bad is, again, unaware repetition. That's what'll bore me as a reader. Anything else of interest can keep me engaged & intrigued.

That said, I do love having to hunt for details. I'm not actually good at it mind but I enjoy it xD

PS Loved reading the replies above! See I'm not the first to mention sentence structure variation ^+^ I liked the flow & lucidity comments, & the idea of motifs (one of the things I was thinking in 'details' to look for).

[forestofglory]

A bunch of my friends have been doing Sunday Six/Sunday snippet where they post a bit for their fic WIP on Sundays and I wanted to play along but I'm not always writing fic. (I only started writing fic at all recently) But I wanted to play along -- so I just ramble about what I'm writing.

Thanks for your thoughts on prose. I love that so many people said varying sentence length -- that seems like something I can work with.

[cranky_x_crocus]

I'm still slowly catching up but so far I've seen two friends shooting for the Sunday Six, which is already inspiring enough! Sunday as a writing check-in day is inspired.

Absolutely! A lot comes from varying sentence length, too - between that & words chosen, it goes a long way toward creating character/narrative voice (& differences between the two!) and allowing different character voices. Good luck/have fun! Hope I'm on the writing train again myself soon. ^+^