Less is more

[_Lynn_]

What I'm going for in my own long-winded, "more is more" kind of way is that it's good to have an editor or a beta-reader whose writing or reading style matches your own. If you choose an editor who likes terse prose, you're likely not going to get good feedback on your descriptive pieces. And vice versa.

My beta-readers like to read the same kinds of stories I do, and one writes in a similar style as well. They help me trim the fat without losing any of the flavor.

I don't think a beta-reader needs to match my style. In fact, neither of the two I use write anything at all like I do. They find gaps easier because they aren't used to the style. The same goes for those I do the reads for. Matching styles could lead to a person skimming over material.

A good editor will do this nomatter what their personal preferences are. It's been said on here time and time again, but an editor is not there to re-write a story to fit their own ideas.

Right.

 

[Mrtouf]

Something worth considering is that reading speed is not necessarily proportional to descriptive density. In other words you may write a long paragraph of description, but the reader's eye may blaze through it a lot faster than a dialogue exchange between characters. A paragraph of description is efficient when used properly because it's easy to take in several lines at once and for the imagination to cobble the scene together.

That said, you wouldn't keep up that kind of descriptive density too long for one scene. You have to give the reader a chance to finish imagining that one and move on to the next one. Or as Giles would say, "Plunge and move on."

 

[Scotsman69]

This is a fascinating thread. My style tends towards terseness and economy with words, in part because that is the theme of my creative writing tutor. (His heroes are Raymond Carver and James Kelman.)

I've found that the more I've studied writing, and the more I've written both on Lit and elsewhere, the less wordy I've become. Using Roget's to find le mot juste is a great deal more effective than using strings of adjectives or adverbs.

My latest story, 'Her Unicorn: a Fable', is both my first venture into sci-fi/fantasy, and one of the verbally sparsest things I've written. It also has no dialogue because the protagonists share no language, so tis a bit of an experiment all round. If you want to see an attempt at 'less is more' in practice, have a look at it and tell me if you think it works. Please?

Because that is the style in which I choose to write does not mean I can't appreciate something more wordy from others. Chacun a son gout.

 

[Scotsman69]

By way of an example of 'more is better' excellence, look at SWinters' stories. Incredible command of vocabulary and language, rich and beautiful. And nary a surplus word.