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Commentary
[NOTE: This was a visceral response to reading an early, immature work of one of my favorite authors. I have experienced that profound disappointment before, with other authors, especially those of whom I had high expectations.]
SEETHING AND SOOTHING
I sometimes SEETHE when authors expect me to import a world of authority or beauty into their writing. Here are some things they do….
- Their chapters always begin with quotes that the reader is supposed to relate to what the author is going to say. Occasionally, that’s helpful; more often it’s DISorienting.
- They make too many references and allusions: “As Karl Barth wrote, ‘In the words of Anselm’….” If they must document their source or authority, I wish they’d use footnotes. It’s less distracting. Keep the text clean and simple.
- They overstuff with metaphors. Nothing against metaphor—I’m a poet for God’s sake*—but too much is cloying.
But good writing? Really good writing? It SOOTHES me. My brain says “Thank you!”
Now, where’s a mirror?
*Yes, I thought about this, and decided I was NOT being flippant with God’s name.
(background image loosely adapted from an original photograph by Deborah Hudson on Pixabay)
