Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Timeless Prose vs Fresh Writing: The Prize Fight

Welcome to Writing Wrestling Entertainment! In this corner, with classic plots and themes and enough metaphors to make eyes bleed--it's Timeless Prose! *hurrahhhh* And in this corner, with crisp verbs and strong nouns and the latest slang--it's Fresh Writing! *woohooooo*

The referee rings in the first match. "Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts." It's a reread of the classic To Kill a Mockingbird...and wait. There's been a disqualification...apparently this Timeless Prose is full of Fresh Writing! It's a shocker, folks.

Okay, next up is the reigning champ, Nora Roberts aka J.D. Robb and Promises in Death. "Do little pink fairies sing and dance in your world, Peabody?" / "Sometimes, when it's very quiet and no one else can see." But what's this? An insight into human nature? a touch of the whimsical? Good grief, Fresh Writing is full of Timeless Prose! The ref is sending the contestants back into their corners, clearing the ring. I've never seen anything like it.

The final match is the Rex Stout mystery Omit Flowers: "In my opinion it was one of Nero Wolfe's neatest jobs, and he never got a nickel for it." Oh no, a classic with a snappy first line! I don't know what's going on, folks. It seems that fresh writing is part of truly timeless prose and vice versa.

I'm waiting for a sign from the ref...yes, it's a TKO, a technical knockout to clunky writing. Fresh and timeless writing wins the prize!

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