Friday, June 13, 2008

Writers Workshop

Lately, writers have been bemoaning the short attention span of the modern reader. They say that it's hurting their craft. I don't agree. Times change, and learning to write more succinctly might be a good thing.
There will always be ponderous best-sellers for people who read just to kill time. But I keep encountering "serious writing" that would be improved by some judicious editing. Many of the 20-page short stories that I read would have greater impact as more carefully written 10-page stories. Most of the poetry I read would be better off having never been written at all. (My poet friends are always wringing their hands and asking How can we get more people to read poetry? The answer is simple: Write better poetry! Have you seen some of the crap out there? Don't get me started!)
Enough.
I apologize for the length of this entry--I didn't have time to write a shorter one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did an alien take over Joe Karson's brain. Obsession with grammar and spelling is elitist. You sound like a Yale freshman.

Jim said...

yeah, isn't it great? Someone who comes across like they're not an ignorant, lazy tv watcher - very refreshing. Wish this country had more like him. Good observation!