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I strongly believe you can become a better writer through osmosis. My writing style is a little, well, suspect. I want to write in a clear and direct style. One that is easy to read.
Which authors would you recommend? OK, I know there's Hemingway, but I just can't get into his stuff. My friend suggested Stephen King; I do enjoy his books, but his style is a little too casual for my taste.
Any suggestions? I'm especially interested in Sci-Fi writers. However I'm completely open to suggestions.
P.S. I was going to ask Dan this question, but if he is indeed the finder of lost things as he claims, he should find this thread. Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I'd suggest Bradbury and Heinlein... two completely different styles, but both tops in their field.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Clearest? I'm gonna say C.S. Lewis. Everyone knows Narnia, but try Till We Have Faces or Perelandra and see what it does for you...
I, personally, think Roger Zelazny is always a good author to study. He wasn't the *best* at any particular aspect of writing, but he always, to me, seemed to have the most complete package. Some of his later stuff (mid 90's) was a little "pay-the-bills" fluffy... but overall, a master craftsman.
edit to make my prose clearer
[ August 30, 2003, 09:44 AM: Message edited by: T. Analog Kid ]
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What do you mean by "clear"? Do you mean transparent, or do you mean incisive? Or do you mean something else?
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I think Ursula K. LeGuin is one of the best writers in the English language now. Her prose is so straightfoward and clear. Her words are transparent so that the whole universe shines through them. Her books are composed of words, like anyone else's, yet it's the things she says without words that really matter.
Uncle Orson is another one. Particularly in Ender and Speaker, Treason and Songmaster, and in the story Pageant Wagon from Folk of the Fringe. Those are my favorite of all his works. I don't know why I can't seem to connect with his more recent stuff. Maybe he's gotten too satisfied, or something. Maybe he's lost his awe.
Nevil Shute is another writer that can say everything. Round the Bend, Trustee from the Toolroom, The Legacy (also published as A Town Like Alice), and No Highway are my most beloved of his novels.
Mark Salzman is a relatively new writer who is also a favorite. The Laughing Sutra, and Iron and Silk are both lovely.
My voice is infused with all of these voices. Not in imitation but simply because they taught me to speak.
[ August 30, 2003, 12:10 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
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TAK, although I love C.S. Lewis, I don't know that I'd say he wrote the clearest prose. Of course, when I think of "clear prose" I think of straightforward, face-value prose. I don't know how Beren defines it.
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All of these authors rock! They all command the english language with precision. I second them all.
But the clearest prose can often be the most dry (not that anyone listed here was, or is). Pick someone who entertains you.
My favorite manipulation of the reader was in The Wild Shore By Kim Stanley Robinson. It has clever parallels with Mark Twain, also whom I highly (very highly) reccommend.
Glad you want to write!
Edit: and don't feel bad, I can't even seem to spell parallel!
[ August 30, 2003, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: Erik Slaine ]
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Thanks for the response folks, I knew this was the right place to ask the question!
quote:What do you mean by "clear"?
See how unclear my writing is! By clear I mean a style that is straightforward, incisive, and easy to read, but not monotonous or boring.
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Orwell is the first who comes to my mind if you want someone who's plain spoken and doesn't go for a lot fancy-shmancy verbiage. Animal Farm and 1984 are his most well known books, of course, but if you're more interested in good writing than a gripping plot, you should check out his essays and autobiographical stuff like Down and Out in London and Paris. Since you're interested in writing, I highly recommend his essays "Why I Write" and "Politics and the English Language."
On the other end of the spectrum, Nabokov's a great choice if you're looking for precision. Technically impressive as he is, though, chances are you wouldn't want to emulate his style, even if you could. [Edited to add]He is not easy to read[/edit]. But he can still be a lot of fun. Great for improving your word power.
Depending on what you disliked about Hemingway, you might also want to check out Steinbeck. His writing has a nice balance of economy, clarity, and lyrical flair.
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I second TaKid's recommendation of Zelazny, for similar reasons. He does have a remarkably balanced writers toolkit: gripping plots, believable characters, incredible imagery, pacing etc. And he knows when to use each one, and not to overuse them.
Steinbeck is one of my favorites.
Neal Stephenson is the best new writer I've found in recent years.Some thoughts on him in this book thread.
For clean,economical yet effective narrative styles, I'm envious of Fred Saberhagen. Try The Empire of the East trilogy (Larry Niven liked it better than LotR), the follow-up Book of Swords and Book of Lost Swords series, or any of his Dracula books, starting with the Dracula Tapes. He is also well known for his Berserker series but I've only read one of those. Fred's style is often straightforward and very readable,yet not simple. He gets the most he can out of dialogue and descriptions, and every little detail fleshs out character and plot in a way that I admire. Zelazny in his foreward to Empire of the East wrote that Fred's writing "hangs together" and is "seamless." I agree.
If I could write like any author it would be Gene Wolfe. His style is hardly straightforward, though. He has been my favorite writer for years. In his short stories he often experiments with different writing styles, changing styles as effortlessly as lesser writers change fonts. His later series novels are what captured my complete admiration, starting with the Book of the New Sun and ending with the Book of the Short Sun.Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I recomend Dean Koontz. His style is elegent and poetic, while keeping it modern as well. He's also extremely to read, everything seems to just flow together. His analogies are amazingly realistic; he can make you feel the elegence in something as simple as flipping a coin (From the Corner of His Eye) or the beauty of the night (Fear Nothing/Sieze the Night). I don't know if he'd be in the Science Fiction section of a library, though. He writes mostly paranormal fiction. It's still amazing. I recomend the three books here, as well as Dark Rivers of the Heart, Lightning (a must), and One Door Away From Heaven.
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Tad Williams has an amazing writing style, but I think this may be due to his vocabulary more then style. His turns of phrase are very elegant.
David Eddings is very clear. Very clean and easy to read. Not as elegant as some of the other authors listed, but I think crisper and cleaner. Straightforward, if you will.
Outside the realm of fantasy/sci-fi, try barbara tuchman. Very clear, and you'll learn something too!
John Grisham, as much as I hate to recommend him, has a very gripping, compelling, clear, easy to read, style of writing.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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For careful word choice, I suggest G. K. Chesterton, Bill Bryson, A. A. Milne (his books of articles and columns are available at Project Gutenberg for free), and Terry Pratchett.
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I would add C.Bridges to that list. For example of his concise communication style, he used just one word--FREE--to capture 100% of my attention.
Deirdre ~ I take my LOTR very seriously
I'm surprised Grisham and Koontz didn't make the list earlier. Gadzillions of readers can't be wrong right?
P.S. I can't believe I used one of the new graemlins. I feel so dirty.....
[ August 31, 2003, 06:53 PM: Message edited by: Beren One Hand ]
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quote: Gadzillions of readers can't be wrong right?
Now that depends on their intelligence level. If "gadzillions" of readers thought OSC was a bad writer they'd be quite wrong now wouldn't they?
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Number one was Lord of the Rings. Needless to say, I was quite happy with both selections. Sometimes the dirty unwashed masses do get it right. Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002
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For clear prose, children's books are mostly really good. E.B. White and Laura Ingalls Wilder and E. Nesbit. That lot. I was raised on these people. Or Edward Eager.
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T.A.K.~ I absolutely loved Till We have Faces ! I was ready to call it quits when I read part of his book The Screwtape Letters , but TWhF brought me back to Lewis. Not sure about it as prose though.
Random Fact: I pulled my name for my Medieval Re-enactment from TWhF. I've used Istra for some amount of years now.
I think what strikes me is the number of really abstract concepts he makes perfectly clear. Perhaps I should call his prose "illuminating"? but I'd go with Chesterton for that... I think Lewis's writing is rather plain, but communicates a lot of meaning, which is why I chose him.
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fugu13, I agree with you about Sam's prose, but in his own time, they sure would have disputed that! :ironic smilie:
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Yep Fugu, couldn't do much better than old Samuel Langhorne Clemmons... aka Mark Twain.
The fact that he never went to high school and filled his head with silly rules probably served him quite well... hehe
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Ah, there is one clear answer for me, if you are looking for clean, precise prose. That would be E.B. White. Read "Charlotte's Web," "Stuart Little," or "The Trumpet of the Swan."
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Oddly enough, Mark Twain did fill his head with silly rules-- he was an expert grammarian.
The Cooper reference is because MT once wrote an essay which ripped Cooper a new one for ineffective, inefficient, and incorrect use of language.
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