I've been doing the "anonymous internet writer" bit for almost eight years. In that time, I've been accused of (among other things):
- Overusing adverbs.
- Leaning too heavily on and/or forcing alliteration.
- Taking too long to get to the point.
All fair points, I suppose. Hell, when people start calling me out for adverbs, the least I can do is consider their comments.
And, then I stumbled across one of those "Analyze Your Writing" sites. I fed it my last few travel diaries and my "Open Letter" to Jalen, discovering:
I don't read fiction, so I only know Stephen King's recent work from his often-unreadable column in Entertainment Weekly. For all I know, "Analyze Your Writing" could be some kind of random author generator.
Either way, I think I'll be keeping my adverbs, yo.
Cam, you don't write like Stephen King. If so one blog post would be like 200 pages over what it should be.
ReplyDeleteThat and Hollywood would NEVER be able make a decent movie based on one of your posts, despite trying numerous times.
I think your a great writer! Which is why I always come back, plus your fast food reviews are oddly captivating. I actually had my first whopper the other day, all because of your lightly read blog. Deff keep the adverbs!
ReplyDeleteI put in a couple of parts from one of my works, and got Dan Brown & King. I think they use about six authors for their search engine.
ReplyDeleteYeah.
Other Joe: The comparison I sporadically receive that always tickles me is to espn.com "Sports Guy" Bill Simmons. Mostly from folks who, I assume, get too hung up on my intentionally dated references. And, I mostly like Simmons, but...no.
ReplyDeleteCheri: If adverbs can persuade you to ravage your innards with fast food, then we agree: they stay!
Canuck: Damn.
You like the fact that people compare you to Bill Simmons?
ReplyDelete/subscribe
I didn't do a good job of explain the point. Summary: I like mostly like Simmons (warts and all), but don't think I resemble him as a writer.
ReplyDeleteWell, eff. I got David Foster Wallace.
ReplyDelete