The Sound On The Page-- Ben Yagoda

The Sound On The Page

I am still reading The Sound On The Page by Ben Yagoda. The text is dense, slow reading with lots of deeply meaningful statements and quotes. There is a six page appendix of original Interviewees in the back of the book which lists people; Cynthia Ozick, Dave Barry, Bebe Moore Campbell, Stanley Crouch, and many amazing authors.

Every time I pick this book up to read, I learn a little more. This is a wonderful quote from Dave Barry: "There is a lot of what I call "God Writing" in the newspaper. We're taught to sound authoritative and impartial and professional, and often to sound boring. I always wanted my column to look more like it was a total mistake that I had gotten hold of the wordprocessor."

I think that this is the problem I am having with my own writing. Maybe, I have been taught that in order to appear serious, I must be intensely and overwhelmingly boring. To put in my voice and spice will disconcert the reader and make them run far far away.

There is a later discussion on whether to use a pen and paper or wordprocessor. I personally feel that I must write down my reviews of books before putting them into a computer. There is something wonderfully tactile about putting words on paper. It makes them concrete and physical. The wordprocessor is ephemeral. It is lightning on a screen focused through our eyeballs.

He compiles dozens of different writers quotes to create a vision of how to create style. Think of a jigsaw puzzle completely made of quotes arranged to say something completely different once the quotes are all put together and you would have this book.

I may not finish reading this book until tomorrow or the next day. It is slow going, but worth it.

I find myself talking to myself out loud more as I write about The Sound On The Page. I think it is helping me develop an original voice.

This book has some very interesting polemics in it. Ben Yagoda comes out against The Elements of Style because the style is too simple. This makes the book quite interesting. This book unlike many writing books does not admonish you to write simply. It gives examples of both simple styles and very ornate writing styles; Harold Bloom, Henry James, and Saul Bellow . I rather like the idea of writing in a complex style.

Some writers will go against this book because it challenges the canon and introduces some very different ideas about writing style and voice.

Here is the book.

Morning Thoughts, Evening Thoughts

Morning Thoughts

I am following lucius_fox, harvey_dent, James_Gordon, and _brucewayne, they talk to each other on twitter. It is kind of funny. I am also looking for other accounts on twitter like gothamsfinest.

A whole bunch of graphic novels came in yesterday. I have not looked at them too closely. My previous choices have been doing quite well. People are taking a lot of them out.

I am ordering a lot of books which other libraries are not getting. This is because I like to physically look at bookstores and examine books. It allows me to choose many books which are never reviewed properly. Library Journal, Choice, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly are a near complete failure with certain categories of the most popular books. Craft books and cookbooks are two of the most popular types of books in public libraries, this is not reflected in the review journals.

Also, review journals rarely review books focused on technical aspects of the home like plumbing, heating, and airconditioning, We order lots of books from Sunset, Black and Decker, House and Garden, and similar publishing companies.

This is also true of computer books. People buy them by the imprint from the publisher mostly. The only way for me to properly understand what people need is to visit a very large bookstore, library, or search online through companies like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Strandbooks. The reviews are nonexistent or spotty.

I have always found most book reviews to be about prestige or demonstrating bookish skills. There is very little prestige in reviewing books on tools, do it yourself projects or other practical books. This is actually kind of sad. It is a gaping failure in the profession. Libraries are failing to provide this kind of material at the level which many people want.

There is a belief that fiction and literature are harder on many levels than popular or practical material. I often think serious practical books which are instructional in nature can be far harder to write than fiction because there needs to be much greater clarity and ease of use than a novel. Combining pictures, words, and diagrams in a clear manner must be quite difficult.

Evening Thoughts

I read some more of Ben Yagoda (I'll call him the Yoda of quotes.) The Sound on the Page, Style and Voice in Writing. He describes how punctuation is a major factor in writing style. Punctuation sets the rhythm of writing and where people pause. Different writers often use punctuation in distinct ways. For example Peter Carey uses no commas in his novel, True History of the Kelly Gang. This makes the style very unique.

I am male which makes my writing style different women's writing style most of the time. At least people claim this. I don't know if it is always true. As I read the book, I am learning quite a few things about what makes writing distinctive. One of the best ways to tell if you are writing in a unique style is to read it aloud and see it sounds.

Because Mr. Yagoda uses so many quotes I am include another one from the book:

If any man would write in a noble style let him first possess a noble soul. -- Goethe.

Developing A Voice or Personal Style

Developing A Voice or Personal Style

I have been criticized for not having a strong personal style or voice in my writing. I think writing in a way must be like stage acting, where you develop a specific style to hold your audiences attention.

While I have found many books on grammar and structure in writing, I have found very little about how to get and hold peoples attention in writing. In other words, I am looking for books and material on creating a strong individual voice or style while writing.

This seems to be a theme which I get criticized for. I have even started a discussion on Blogcatalog covering this particular issue.
http://www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/developing-a-voice-or-personal-style

I do not think even the best writing manuals like The Elements Style or On Writing Well cover this very well.

The central question is what holds peoples attention and why? This must effect how successful most writers are.

Just be yourself is really not enough to answer this question. I am myself and there is no other like me. What aspect of myself attracts other people to my writing?

This is the first time I have really asked this question. When I went to my libraries catalog, I found books on the subject, but I did not find a single one at our library. I requested a few to look at. It might be something which I should consider ordering for our branch.

Do you know any really good books or websites on this subject?

Thoughts for the Day

Today has been a rather slow day. Two books came in for me, Teach Yourself Copywriting, 2nd Edition, by J. Jonathan Gabay and The Dreaming Void, a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton. I finished reading Matter by Iain Banks on the train home. It was quite interesting with many nuanced levels of complexity.

I hope to learn a few things from the copywritng book; how to write press releases, choose title lines for articles, and write to sell.

Sometimes, as soon as I am finished reading one book, I start reading the second book. I prefer reading to looking at the other passengers on the train sometimes. The books are often more attractive than the smiling face of your fellow passengers. A lot of people wear sunglasses on the train, I prefer a book or newspaper to shield my eyes.

It is a very slow day today. I sorted some pamphlets, checked around to see if we had enough round footstools for the basement. There were quite a few in odd places. I also spent a decent amount of time on the reference desk. I also planned a little bit on what I was going to do next week, weeding, ordering career books, a business program, and maybe a visit to the local art gallery.

It is one of those days where I am not quite sure what to write about. One of the things I have been thinking about is the concept of what a professional blog is. Some people have complained that my blog does not look particularly polished. One of the goals I have in writing this blog is to learn to use the technology of writing blogs. This means designing my own banners, buttons, and similar things. It also means learning to upload pictures and video files.

I am trying to do all of this myself. This means, it will have a very personalized style. I don't expect everything to look perfect. In fact, that is one of the charms of blogging. You get to see a persons individual style.

Another reason I am reading the book Teach Yourself Copywriting is I am a believer in many cases of anti-consumerism. I believe there is an overemphasis on cheap unhealthful products for people. Some might call this Un-American. I call this a type of alternative thinking. This is one of the reasons I reviewed Debt Is Slavery earlier.

I think there is a thread of marketing and advertising which is not good for people in general. I will read material for consumer self-defense. It is not enough to just read on how to save money, but also how to protect yourself from advertising. Some people become overwhelmed by shopping and it destroys their lives.