Simply, Instantly, Immediately, Suddenly

VeryBigBeard said:

if all writing was precise there wouldn't be poetry.

Click to expand...

The greatest poetry is extremely precise. Perhaps my understanding of the word "precise" differs from yours, but to me it means using exactly the right word for the right task at exactly the right moment, and not diluting it with unnecessary embellishment.

See if this definition doesn't fit:

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
"Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats
"The Wild Swans at Coole" by W.B. Yeats
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost
"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot
"Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas
About a hundred poems by Emily Dickinson

caw

VeryBigBeard said:

if all writing was precise there wouldn't be poetry.

Click to expand...

We must read and write very different poetry. I don't think any writing of any kind is as precise as poetry.

Maybe much if the free verse pseudo-poetry that litters the intenet is imprecise, but real poetry is as precise and and as controlled as it's possible to get. It's difficult to write with meter and form unless you're precise. Every word my have the right stresses, and still be the word that says what you want to say.

I agree that we need to be careful about what we delete. Too much is as bad, or worse, than too little, but the goal is always precision. The perfect sentence in both how it's written, and what it says.

Precise writing is not dull, or gray, or flat. It's vibrant, energetics, unexpected, and trips off the tongue like good poetry.

Suddenly, I have to edit some of my work!

I very much enjoy precise poetry, too.

And I enjoy poetry with less form.

I try not to be too discerning.

Orianna2000 said:

Passive: He was truly leaving.

Click to expand...

Not passive voice. And nothing wrong with it either, depending on the context.

It also clicked that sometimes the use of "was" indicates distancing or filtering,

Click to expand...

The use of "was" can sometimes indicate telling. "She was happy" is telling. A novel filled with a lot of those constructions is going to feel distancing for sure. But filtering is another thing altogether. Filtering is when you filter the character's experience through certain words such as "knew, realized, heard, saw," etc. "He heard footsteps in the hall." "She knew he didn't love her anymore."

Sometimes a sentence like that is exactly what's called for. But usually it's best to phrase things more directly.

Orianna2000 said:

Passive: He was truly leaving.

Click to expand...

No. As BethS has pointed out. Get thee to the Purdue OWL and understand what passive voice construction really is.

caw