41–50 of 91 posts
It a my first time to see lithub.com. I was hoping it would be like Github for writers, but was disappointed. Does anyone know if such a thing exists?
>"This may be a particular peeve of mine and no one else’s, but I note it, because it’s my book: Name-dropping, for no better reason than to show off, under-appreciated novels, obscure foreign films, or cherished indie bands by having one’s characters irrelevantly reading or watching or listening to them is massively sore-thumbish. A novel is not a blog post about Your Favorite Things.[5] If you must do this sort of…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you explain why? The phase allows you, after having made a point, to invert that point then suggest an alternative explanation or perspective. I read a few of the posts in the search results, and "That being said" felt natural in many cases to join sometimes contradictory positions or different degrees of the same position together into one fluid thought. Someone can cringe at anyone. Without offering critique, i…
I don't really have a good explanation other than we already have words like 'However' and 'But'. It also seems redundant, maybe just start typing your contradictory position without the need for a connecting phrase? That being said, it may just be me who is annoyed by the phrase. I think it just gets used a lot and I can't help but notice for some reason. I think I've associated the phrase with strawman arguments an…
My own pet peeve in non-fiction, particularly the kind that appears on blogs: the excruciating warmup before the author finally gets to the point of the post. I know why this happens. When you sit down to write, you don't know what exactly you're going to say. You may even be anxious about it. Then, an idea sparks your imagination and you start writing stuff. The warmup that comes out initially gets you on track. Not…
Also referring to personal anecdotes of random persons to further a point.
I also find the use of statistics/citing numbers from studies to prove a point, a most boring way to argue a point in writing.
From the article: Many writers rely more heavily on pronouns than I’d suggest is useful. For me this sort of thing comes under the heading Remember that Writing Is Not Speaking. When we talk, we can usually make ourselves understood even amid a flood of vague “he”s and “she”s. On the page, too many pronouns are apt to be confounding. I’d strongly suggest to the point of insistence that you avoid referring to two peop…
Why stop there? - Pronoun overuse bad. Write don't speak. When talking, many pronouns understandable. Not on paper. Avoid same pronoun for multiple people (same-sex romance especially difficult). Or how about another: - Pronouns bad. Write don't speak. Can speak many pronouns, not write. Same pronouns, multiple people? No. (Same-sex romance especially) Making something shorter or "tighter" isn't necessarily better. W…
Doubleplusgood. You plusgood future Oceania.
As a techie I write good, but I always feel woefully inadequate when reading the nuances that real writers consider.
>"This may be a particular peeve of mine and no one else’s, but I note it, because it’s my book: Name-dropping, for no better reason than to show off, under-appreciated novels, obscure foreign films, or cherished indie bands by having one’s characters irrelevantly reading or watching or listening to them is massively sore-thumbish. A novel is not a blog post about Your Favorite Things.[5] If you must do this sort of…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is even worse in internet recipes. The authors tend to go on and on about their feelings, family and personal stories before finally getting to the point how to actually cook the dish. I usually have to skip several paragraphs.
My trick is to ctrl-f for 'tbsp' whenever I hit a recipe blog site. In their prose it is always referred to as 'tablespoons'(if at all), and the first reference to tbsp is usually in the ingredients list at the actual recipe.