{"id":10844,"date":"2015-05-27T06:36:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T11:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hilbertthm90.wordpress.com\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2022-06-21T12:33:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T17:33:01","slug":"examining-pros-prose-part-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amindformadness.com\/2015\/05\/examining-pros-prose-part-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining Michael Chabon’s Prose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Michael Chabon is one of the masters of prose writing today. Let’s see what we can learn by examining his prose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you read any modern book on writing or editing, you’ll find the same sets of rules to follow over and over. These rules come out of an aesthetic known as minimalism. It is the type of thing you’ll be taught to do if you go to one of the big-name MFA programs like the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of these rules is to produce tight, clear writing. Some people go so far as to say they teach you to write like John Cheever (though I find this a bit unfair as Robert Coover was faculty at Iowa, and I don’t consider his style to be minimalistic at all).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of this series is to take people famous for their excellent prose and look at whether they follow some of the most common rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ll also try to pick writers from at least 1950 onward, because before “modernism” there were some factors which messed with prose (Dickens was a master, but when you’re paid by installment …).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avoid repetition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is vague, but it means to avoid it at the word level: I saw a saw next to the seesaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also means avoid repetition of an idea a paragraph or two later or repetition of themes\/concepts across the whole book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reasoning is often called “1 + 1 = 1\/2.” A technique or word or idea is most effective when done once. The next time it is done, people have seen it, and both lose their punch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n