cj Sez: Okay, it’s
half-time in the Super Bowl and that’s all the time I have to get this post
out. So bear with me if there are more than a couple of typos. (sigh)
Reviews and Sales:
Another InD’tale review excerpt: “Bryn has been her brother’s savior many
times. The choices she is forced to make will resonate with the reader long
after the story is finished.”
Publisher
Crimson Romance is having a Valentine’s Sale on Amazon for the whole month of
February. Choosing Carter and Deadly Star are among the deals. There
is a HUGE selection. And, both novels are Free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Now for the post:
A couple
of years ago friend sent me this quote from a fellow blogger, Sol Sanders: “Perhaps the glory of the English language is
that it so expressive. Its remarkable heterogeneous origins have given it an
almost limitless vocabulary. And American English, particularly, has used that
tool with an enormous flexibility to make it the international means of
communication. One is able with a minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture
every meaning, or almost every nuance.”
Mr. Sanders’s comments were part of an introduction to his
essay on what today’s journalism and media do with the English language. The
gist of his post is that journalists and media people overcomplicate their
sentences with words that muddy their meanings rather than clarifying them—changing
nouns into verbs and, perhaps, calling a shovel a “hand-held, earth-moving
tool.” My take on this is that media and journalists employ an old trick of
confusing the issue to persuade readers to their (the writer/editor) points of
view
Turning nouns into verbs seems a clever way to uncomplicated
sentences, but these may also confuse the issue (one I particularly dislike is
“impactful;” a noun turned into a verb turned into an adjective by adding ful
on the end. What the Sam Hill does that mean?).
The truth is, the English is a living language. It’s
constantly evolving as we create new words and new definitions to compliment
new technology. The caveat is that the generations cease to understand each
other at an almost exponential pace. Many times I need an interpreter to
understand teen-talk, and I think if I texted (a noun turned into a verb because
of technology), I’d forget how to spell. I sympathize with teachers who deal with this
on a daily basis.
For me as a genre writer, the gloriously expressive English
language is what makes my craft so fascinating.
Yes, I use nouns as verbs. Yes, I deliberately obfuscate . .
. (adding the disclaimer that it’s for the sake of mystery). I am drawn to the
syntax, symbolism, and syncopation of a well-drafted sentence that is the hallmark
of successful mystery/thriller/suspense novelists. It’s using that “minimum of
linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost every nuance” that
appeals to me, and, I think, to readers of those genres. They want to try to decipher
the code, find the clues, and solve the crime. I like trying to confuse the
issue.
I’m still working on my craft. How are you doing with your
genre?
Okay, back to the football game. You-all guys keep on keeping on
and I’ll try to do the same.
cj
cjpetterson@gmail.com
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