Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story?
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Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story? Imagine an alternate timeline where Melville lost his original manuscript for Moby Dick and had to write it out again from memory: it would be a slightly different story (but I think probably just as good) — would it really be a different book? (probably not) — if this isn’t true then the process of revision can never end. Since there would be some “best” way to tell it and you’d need to burn a life time making the first paragraph.
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Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story? Imagine an alternate timeline where Melville lost his original manuscript for Moby Dick and had to write it out again from memory: it would be a slightly different story (but I think probably just as good) — would it really be a different book? (probably not) — if this isn’t true then the process of revision can never end. Since there would be some “best” way to tell it and you’d need to burn a life time making the first paragraph.
@futurebird AI could rewrite many books from history
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@futurebird AI could rewrite many books from history
And that’s just making a translation without telling a new story isn’t it?
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Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story? Imagine an alternate timeline where Melville lost his original manuscript for Moby Dick and had to write it out again from memory: it would be a slightly different story (but I think probably just as good) — would it really be a different book? (probably not) — if this isn’t true then the process of revision can never end. Since there would be some “best” way to tell it and you’d need to burn a life time making the first paragraph.
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Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story? Imagine an alternate timeline where Melville lost his original manuscript for Moby Dick and had to write it out again from memory: it would be a slightly different story (but I think probably just as good) — would it really be a different book? (probably not) — if this isn’t true then the process of revision can never end. Since there would be some “best” way to tell it and you’d need to burn a life time making the first paragraph.
I write technical material, rather than stories, but, in my experience, there's no one best way to word something. The goals I'm optimising for — clarity, precision, accessibility to EFL readers, conciseness, usefulness to newcomers, usefulness to experienced readers — often conflict.
Does that resonate? In a story, for example, the goals of expressiveness and vivid imagery might conflict with the goals of widespread comprehension and appeal. We all know of some authors who send us scuttling to the dictionary and others who don't.
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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@futurebird again, are you reading Borges, and if not, how do I convince you to start?
@fivetonsflax Borges knew about #thebackrooms That library is totally a “level” as the kids call it. #backrooms
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Is there more than one best way to word a sentence in a story? Imagine an alternate timeline where Melville lost his original manuscript for Moby Dick and had to write it out again from memory: it would be a slightly different story (but I think probably just as good) — would it really be a different book? (probably not) — if this isn’t true then the process of revision can never end. Since there would be some “best” way to tell it and you’d need to burn a life time making the first paragraph.
@futurebird if you have a narrow, specific audience in mind, and it's a simple sentence, then there may be a single best way for that audience. But if you've a range of audiences you write for, or if you have a complicated sentence, or both, you'll face complex tradeoffs among many competing good ways and no single best way.
