I’m a member of a couple of writers groups on FB. Participants routinely offer reductive ideas on the art of prose - “cut anything that doesn’t advance the plot”, “always use [The Vile] Oxford Comma”, “women characters must be independent, intelligent and fair-minded or they’re defective”, “the passive voice is never to be used” and such like. When I object to such lunkhead bromides, I am shouted down as a cretin. OK on the cretin bit, but it’s The Sin of Certainty I can’t abide. If writing was as easy as applying some formulas, any old lunkhead could do it - and I’m not just any old lunkhead. The latest worry gripping the English Department, however, is more gigantic still.
© 2024 John Oliver
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