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Writing at Level 10
Apr. 9th, 2006 08:15 pmAuthors write at all different levels. And no, I'm not talking about sucky versus not-sucky prose. I mean all different levels of clean, workable, get-the-job-done prose. Let's say level one is pure simplicity. (Jane ran.) Level ten is beautiful and lyrical and layered.
When I first started writing, I just wanted to not screw up. Once I learned how to not screw up so much, I began aspiring to that perfect level 10 sentence. This was wrong of me.
Level 10, I'm learning, is a tool, not a voice.
I know people who write at Level 10 all the time. They're frickin brilliant and I could lose myself in the language of their work. At first, anyway. After a bit, the constant bombardment of Brilliant Metaphor! Power Verb! Clever Phrase! Lyrical Cadence! Sumptuous Detail! feels like a battering ram to the head. I become desensitized and distant. I lose interest.
But. But but but. I've also read stuff that hovers at about Level 5. So simple and pure. Then, every two paragraphs or so, it shoots up to Level 10 for a moment. A mental head snap. Add a Level 1 plunge or two, and I pay closer attention than ever.
Maybe this is just a stylistic observation. Maybe a bunch of you folks prefer your writing all Ten, all the time. *cough*weirdos*cough* But I think I'm gonna aim a little lower.
When I first started writing, I just wanted to not screw up. Once I learned how to not screw up so much, I began aspiring to that perfect level 10 sentence. This was wrong of me.
Level 10, I'm learning, is a tool, not a voice.
I know people who write at Level 10 all the time. They're frickin brilliant and I could lose myself in the language of their work. At first, anyway. After a bit, the constant bombardment of Brilliant Metaphor! Power Verb! Clever Phrase! Lyrical Cadence! Sumptuous Detail! feels like a battering ram to the head. I become desensitized and distant. I lose interest.
But. But but but. I've also read stuff that hovers at about Level 5. So simple and pure. Then, every two paragraphs or so, it shoots up to Level 10 for a moment. A mental head snap. Add a Level 1 plunge or two, and I pay closer attention than ever.
Maybe this is just a stylistic observation. Maybe a bunch of you folks prefer your writing all Ten, all the time. *cough*weirdos*cough* But I think I'm gonna aim a little lower.
