Grice's Maxims, 4 and last: of brevity.
I have let too much time pass between each of my posts about the Maxims. Here you have the other three.
Grice Maxim number Four: Be brief; be informative. This does not mean use few words, it means make all words mean something. There are two extremes to break the rule: one is not providing information:
-What did you do today? oh, nothing, the usual.
And the extreme of giving lots of words and no information: tags, fillers. Coletillas. This is an easy way of making your characters sound different from each other and it was a favourite technique of Charles Dickens. Repetitions fall here too. Consider the difference between: I cant and I cant, seriously, I just cant. Remember that we are talking about fiction: the one that talks like that is a character, not the narrator. Characters can do all sorts of things that the narrator isnt supposed to do, like using the most trite phrases. Have a narrator saying: As a matter of fact, and youll kill the flow. Have a character say As a matter of fact, and youll be building up their personality.
Grice Maxim number Four: Be brief; be informative. This does not mean use few words, it means make all words mean something. There are two extremes to break the rule: one is not providing information:
-What did you do today? oh, nothing, the usual.
And the extreme of giving lots of words and no information: tags, fillers. Coletillas. This is an easy way of making your characters sound different from each other and it was a favourite technique of Charles Dickens. Repetitions fall here too. Consider the difference between: I cant and I cant, seriously, I just cant. Remember that we are talking about fiction: the one that talks like that is a character, not the narrator. Characters can do all sorts of things that the narrator isnt supposed to do, like using the most trite phrases. Have a narrator saying: As a matter of fact, and youll kill the flow. Have a character say As a matter of fact, and youll be building up their personality.
1 comentario
heyheymymy -
No, ahora en serio, me encanta tu blog, es muy original.Te linkare del mio, espero q no te importe.
Keep on writing!