Submitted by DaveK on Fri, 03/30/2012 - 3:38pm

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Fri, 03/30/2012 - 4:12pm

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Thanks for stopping by my blog, Dave. Yes, there are lots pf markets out there. And absolutely, we should all shoot for the top right of your graph!

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Sat, 03/31/2012 - 9:49am

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Great language with no content or great ideas with no polish? I'm afraid I've read published work like that before, and I strive to steer clear of them both as a reader and a writer. Well done on meeting your March Write1Sub1 goals, Dave!

Milo

www.milo-inmediasres.com

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Sun, 04/01/2012 - 6:25pm

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Here's your virtual slap on the back for W1S1--*slap* :D

For me, I just want to read a story. Fancy prose is nice and all, but if there's no story, then what's the point of me reading it? This is why I dislike a lot of literary: it's a lot of fluff and no stuff.

~defcon

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Sun, 04/01/2012 - 10:58pm

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Ah, I struggle so much with story!  Language, words, images - yum.  This is a great way to look at the issue - where do you draw the line?  I fear that my line is different for reading (like a fast plot) than for writing (love to play with language).

 

This is my second rant on this subject (you can find the earlier one below) but this one includes a graph !!!

What is more important – the idea of the story or the language in which it is written? If the language is poetic but the story is going nowhere, will you keep reading – some will, not all. If the plot is engaging and you can't wait to read what happens next but the words and grammar are poorly chosen, will you keep reading – some will, not all. Everyone values the two attributes differently. The two concepts are orthogonal. Each can be changed without affecting the other. The question is which do YOU value more. Can you have great language with not content? Some poetry perhaps, or a song sung in a language you don't know. How about ideas with no language? An outline made up of phrases might satisfy that requirement.

So where in the chart below does you work fall? Work to move it to the top right corner. But it gets hard to reach there. One typo or plot hole and you've missed. And that line marking the acceptable area from the not ready area, everyone draws it in a different place.

     ---------------------- perfection
     |  |                 |
     |   \   acceptable   |
     |     \              |
Idea |       \            |
axis |         \          |
     |           \        |
     |  not        \      |
     |   ready       \    |
     |                 \  |
     |                   \|
 0,0 ----------------------
          Language axis