hi! personally, i am more inclined to direct proses (i lack the attention and coherency to read words like pulchritudinous and i do not want to search every single word i encounter in a book) but i wanna hear your opinions?
10 Likes
Personally I enjoy reading elevated diction, but it shouldnât be like someone regurgitated a thesaurus. Sometimes there are feelings or ideas that can only be precisely described through higher level vocabulary, but I agree,
has no place in one of these games (in my opinion). When I write, I tend to use more âfloweryâ language during romance scenes, again, to convey less easily defined feelings. But during normal conversations, battles or the like? No.
15 Likes
Both can be done well and both can flop horribly. Iâd say it depends more on the authourâs skill and voice.
Flowery prose can be gorgeous, but it often (very often) gets tedious in the wrong hands.
On the other hand, simple, direct prose gets the point across, but I personally find it⌠a bit dull, honestly. But it can be done!
Iâd say stick with what youâre comfortable with, because thatâs going to get you the best results (forced prose will sound, well, forced).
Also, itâs possible to write with a combination of the two. In fact, my favourite authours tend to be both succint yet flowery in their prose, and itâs always a delight to read.
23 Likes
The title of the thread is not the best. You ask what do you prefer to read. If you are asking especially to writers and no readers, You have to write What do you prefer to write jolt down or similar verb.
More important than the writing verbose or lack of thereof, it is the usage of the correct wording. Clarity is the key when a player has to have a total understanding of what the hell is choosing. The rest is a preference for one technique or the other.
4 Likes
yeah! i was wrong with that, oof. i am actually asking both writers and readers!! english is not my first language so i apologize if i twisted my words <3
2 Likes
I am not native too, the reason why I am obsessed with trying to be understandable and clear. You cant have an interactive book if the reader doesnât understand what is choosing. The verbose or style is something secondary to that
4 Likes
I agree that clarity is the key, actually. Sometimes, I read books that I canât understand and I meant âdirectâ as in writing that was more simpler and with less words.
This is understandable!! I do the same at romantic moments but not actually with words like âmellifluousâ or of the sorts but I agree, flowery language can only be used at certain times and not with battle scenes.
1 Like
Iâm sure itâs fine either way, writing or reading. In the end, the thread is useful for both writer and reader.
4 Likes
I like flowery prose too, it is pretty but sometimes my head hurts because I donât understand the prose anymore and I get too involved with words rather than the actual story instead!
1 Like
Yes!!! <3 It is fine eitherway, as people have different opinions and views.
Oh, no. I was replying about âwriting v. readingâ on your title, here.
As for the question of the topic in hand, I prefer direct writing, although appreciate bits of flowery flavor here and there.
Elaborating it more, picking between the worse of both version, Iâd rather have a dull writing than slogging through flowery ones since beauty has its due. A writing might be dull, but it wonât stop you from getting to the story it conveys (which could be interesting). On the other hand, purple prose that went out of hand will slog the pacing and bury the juicy story behind words and words, which I donât quite fond of.
6 Likes
I like to read books that helps me learn new words. But not to the point where thereâs so much flowery words that I just get lost. It brings me out of the immersion if I have to look at the dictionary every single time. And I somehow get the sense when the author is trying too much to make it verbose that it just sounds forced. Make it understandable. You can input flowery words here and there, but donât give us a headache in the process.
4 Likes
As a native english speaker, honestly same.
I also think itâs important to acknowledge that everyoneâs perception of âfloweryâ or âdirectâ could vary. Does flowery mean lots of big words, or does it mean sharp, colourful prose? Or is that direct writing?
Fancy writing can say a lot of things without really saying anything, but direct writing can shamble along a story in much the same manner. The flow of the story is the make-or-breakâat what point does flowery become a burden? And at what point does direct writing become a slog? Flow is a good skill to hone on this subject, I think.
4 Likes
Often, âfloweryâ proses when I ask, are works that use long and âfancy-soundingâ words that can be replaced with shorter words with the same meaning. It differs from person-to-person yet this is the common definition people tell me.
This is a very good point actually!! I agree that flow is definitely something to develop.
1 Like
Exactly! Sometimes people use so much flowery words that I get lost within the story, and itâs something that annoys me because often times, the flow gets lost? I donât really know how to explain it besides the flow of the story seems slower.
Per The Elements of Style teachings (every writer should have this little book in their pocket), writing should be direct, coherent, clean, and truthful. âFloweryâ writing can be Okey for a sentence or two, not for a whole paragraph or even the whole book.
In choicescript or interactive fiction, personally, I think it should be the same as in book writing. But of course, there are literal works that call for such mannerism or language.
3 Likes
I lean towards reading more direct writing. Too much in the way of âlinguistic pyrotechnicsâ can detract from the actual content of the story, I find. Salman Rushdie is a fine writer - but, man, I canât make it through more than a chapter or two of his books; he wants to make each sentence a carefully-crafted work of art⌠and I just find this causes me to lose sight somewhat of the larger picture.
Conversely, if you take a book like âThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,â the style is super-direct - the book is written in the voice of a fifteen-year-old with Aspergerâs Syndrome, so such directness is warranted - and I found it a joy to read. I gulped it down in one evening. It was the first novel I read in a foreign language, too (admittedly, Iâd already read it in English, my native language).
Two extremes, and itâs hard to generalise when youâre talking about something as subjective as literature. But I tend to lean towards preferring more direct writing.
6 Likes
Thanks for the recommendation! Iâll try to get myself a copy of this book <3
1 Like
it definitely depends on a couple of things: atmosphere, genre of the book, plus how itâs used. in some cases, it can work very well - romance mostly, or stories that have general whimsical atmosphere, but too much of it can seem a little confusing. it can also work for dialogues, but this is a bit tricky, because the characters have to have personality that permits the use of such language.
i like things that evoke emotion, but i feel like this could be done without having to use flowery language. in any case, i like simple writing because it makes everything easier to understand.
2 Likes