Fanfiction Lounge

Miz en Scène · Aug 30, 2009

icomeanon6 said:
I don't really see how "humorous" and "modern" relate to each other. I mean, there's been humor in writing for almost as long as there's been writing. There's also no correlation between how funny something is and how easily children can understand it. I mean, just look at Yes Minister. Trying to understand a comedy about the British bureaucracy as an American child is pretty freaking hard (I can attest to that).

I put them there as seperate elements in the question. They don't necessarily have to correlate. When I say modern, what i mean is that if you refer to books that were written in the past century, you'll notice that the older books tend to be written in a flowery and overly descriptive, somewhat wangsty manner. The writing style in modern literature differs greatly from say, 70 years ago. I heard someone say before not sure who though.

"These books were written when people had more free time to themselves and just wanted a book that was long enough to fill their free time."
On the subject of books written in the past.

Humourous means that the writer does not write so stiffly when doing narrative.

And the part about children being able to understand it. Try to imagine a child reading Shakespeare to a child reading Harry Potter.

Feign · Aug 30, 2009

Okay well that changes things... :p

Depending on what I write on (this may not fall under fanfics), I'll write as natural as possible. Of course there are times when I must use a more formal prose...

But whilst not unto these forums, I do try to challenge myself,especially in a Shakespearian manner. :p

On a side note, I will be taking a course entitled 'History of English', so it shall be fun.

Lol anyone remember that "flowery" sentence of mine, a while back?

Well:

Spoiler:

Anyway off to work.

Miz en Scène · Aug 30, 2009

Feign said:
Lol anyone remember that "flowery" sentence of mine, a while back?

Well:

Spoiler:

contrary to popular(?) belief, I did not use a dictionary or theasaurus and just came up with the most absurdly overly written thing, while attempting to keep it grammatically correct. :p I find it to be one step above disassociative writing however, as I was trying to recall random words. Though I'd think some may have caught on to what I was doing, not sure...

I'm still contemplating your sanity. XD

txteclipse · Aug 30, 2009

Do you prefer to write in a serious and somewhat archaic tone or, do you write in a humourous, somewhat modern manner that children can understand without much difficulty.

I tend to use complicated language and sentence structure, and my characters speak like they're from olde England.

And txtclipse, was listening to some of the songs from AOL music, and so far liking it.

But what of the wretched hollow?
The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out...?

...and sit here cold?
We'll be long gone by then, and lackluster.
In dust we lay around old magazines.
Fluorescent lighting sets the scene,
For all we could and should be being,
In the one life that we've got...

<3

Citrinin · Aug 30, 2009

Do you prefer to write in a serious and somewhat archaic tone or, do you write in the way that sounds most natural to you such as the way you speak in every day conversations?
I write in a similar manner that I do in everyday written conversation, not verbal. Obviously, I remove any slang from my fanfic, and I probably do add a slightly more formal and descriptive tone.

Redstar · Aug 30, 2009

Do you prefer to write in a serious and somewhat archaic tone or, do you write in the way that sounds most natural to you such as the way you speak in every day conversations?
I write what feels right. Writing too formal is presumptuous. Writing too casual is also presumptuous. I do a mix of both, writing in how I imagine the character would think... And when there is no viewpoint character I give the feeling there is one, by crafting my words just right until the narrator seems like a real person.

Neither way is right or wrong. It's just how you choose to use your words, and in what situation.

Giratina ♀ · Aug 30, 2009

Do you prefer to write in a serious and somewhat archaic tone or, do you write in the way that sounds most natural to you such as the way you speak in every day conversations?

Archaic? Serious? Please hold for a second. [walks into other room and starts laughing]Um, no, I don't make any attempt to sound overly-serious in my stories because they're just not very overly-serious stories. The exception to this rule would be if the scene I was writing happened to be a genuinely serious moment and I have to do take it extremely carefully and non-personalized or risk totally killing the atmosphere. Though usually it's a lot like what I say in every-day conversation (if I ever said anything in everyday conversation), which could possibly be justified by... something. In truth, I really don't like stories which have more generic narration - I've got no idea why, but I suspect it having something to do with how uncomfortable it is for me to be finishing a story written in that format and then reading the author's notes, where the writer's personality really comes alive. I find that slightly unsettling.

Miz en Scène · Aug 30, 2009

Citrinin said:
Do you prefer to write in a serious and somewhat archaic tone or, do you write in the way that sounds most natural to you such as the way you speak in every day conversations?
I write in a similar manner that I do in everyday written conversation, not verbal. Obviously, I remove any slang from my fanfic, and I probably do add a slightly more formal and descriptive tone.

The observation on any particular piece of literature is relative. I'm currently reading your work and I find it rather delighful. *Is on chapter 8*
In my opinion, your work is written in that serious tone. Maybe it's just because that's how you speak in real life though...
You could however, make more of an attempt at humour once in a while. Again, no offence, merely a suggestion. Don't be offended.

Citrinin · Aug 30, 2009

Mizan Nix Zamnie said:
I'm currently reading your work and I find it rather delighful. *Is on chapter 8*

Thank you. :D

Mizan Nix Zamnie said:
In my opinion, your work is written in that serious tone. Maybe it's just because that's how you speak in real life though...

I probably should have been more clear when answering the bolded question: it was how I'd speak, adapted to the situation. As you know, the setting of my story is dark indeed, and that is how I would speak if such a situation occurred (and I could be sure that someone wasn't listening XD). And, of course, you're right: I do speak more seriously than many people a good deal of the time.

Mizan Nix Zamnie said:
You could however, make more of an attempt at humour once in a while. Again, no offence, merely a suggestion. Don't be offended.

None taken. ^_^ I'm not very skilled at humour, particularly not with integrating it into such an atmosphere. But I might try it at some stage. ^^

Astinus · Aug 30, 2009

Humourous means that the writer does not write so stiffly when doing narrative.

Bwuh?

¯\o_O/¯

Bwuh?

Really? Really? Just because my writing is casual doesn't mean that it's humorous. I mean, my favorite writer writes in a very casual manner, so that everyone can understand his writing, and I would not call his stories "humorous." ~~Okay, so I did chuckle through a few of them, but that happens when it's Andy. Oh A War of Gifts, why so fail?~~

I really think you need to rethink what "humorous" means. I checked a few sites, and I only saw humor in the way that I define it: "something that's meant to promote laughter". You're using it to mean "simple" when it doesn't mean that.

It's the problem that happened in the first edition of this bold question. Just because something's humorous doesn't mean that children can understand it.

I put them there as seperate elements in the question.

No you didn't. You said "humorous, somewhat modern manner that children can understand". That's not separate elements. I'm not sure why humor is running around here as a catch-all phrase for "simple writing" when it's not. Because not all simple writing is done to promote laughter. If a story is easy to understand, then it's written in a simple manner. It doesn't mean that it has to be humorous.

And as Giratina said, sometimes archaic writing is hilarious, especially when the wrong word is used. Like "flattened phalli of concentrated, precise wind weaved into existence out of the darkening air to his flanks... " is just lol-tastic.

What I'm saying is that humor isn't always simple writing that can be easily understood, and all simple writing isn't humor. There are books for little little kids that deal with some tough ****, and I wouldn't call those books humorous just because a four-year-old can understand the words.

As for my answer to the question, I write in a casual tone, much like the way I speak.

Miz en Scène · Aug 30, 2009

Astinus said:
Bwuh?

¯\o_O/¯

Bwuh?

Really? Really? Just because my writing is casual doesn't mean that it's humorous. I mean, my favorite writer writes in a very casual manner, so that everyone can understand his writing, and I would not call his stories "humorous." ~~Okay, so I did chuckle through a few of them, but that happens when it's Andy. Oh A War of Gifts, why so fail?~~

I really think you need to rethink what "humorous" means. I checked a few sites, and I only saw humor in the way that I define it: "something that's meant to promote laughter". You're using it to mean "simple" when it doesn't mean that.

It's the problem that happened in the first edition of this bold question. Just because something's humorous doesn't mean that children can understand it.

No you didn't. You said "humorous, somewhat modern manner that children can understand". That's not separate elements. I'm not sure why humor is running around here as a catch-all phrase for "simple writing" when it's not. Because not all simple writing is done to promote laughter. If a story is easy to understand, then it's written in a simple manner. It doesn't mean that it has to be humorous.

And as Giratina said, sometimes archaic writing is hilarious, especially when the wrong word is used. Like "flattened phalli of concentrated, precise wind weaved into existence out of the darkening air to his flanks... " is just lol-tastic.

What I'm saying is that humor isn't always simple writing that can be easily understood, and all simple writing isn't humor. There are books for little little kids that deal with some tough ****, and I wouldn't call those books humorous just because a four-year-old can understand the words.

As for my answer to the question, I write in a casual tone, much like the way I speak.

Now how would you suggest I fix the question? Because frankly, I'm terrible at wording what I mean.

As for the answer: Casual.

Bay · Aug 30, 2009

Mizan, didn't you already reworded the question after Valentine answered the first edition of it? ~~And I still can't believe you were correcting it while I was answering the question :P~~

JX Valentine · Aug 30, 2009

Astinus said:
And as Giratina said, sometimes archaic writing is hilarious, especially when the wrong word is used.

Or even when the right words are used.

This entire discussion makes me want to bring up Jonathan Swift now, if only because every discussion needs to bring up the fact that a few centuries ago he wrote an entire political pamphlet about eating babies, and that's just hilarious. (Although what really makes this funnier is that people took him seriously.) And, of course, who can forget that lovely part of Gulliver's Travels when he gets drunk and puts out a fire in Lilliput by peeing on it? Immature, yeah, but so very Jack Black.

(Really, I just wanted to bring this all up because I think it's hilarious. I'm not even really trying to prove a point here. Although I do believe Swift would fall into the "archaic" category, even if it was technically just the way people wrote back then.)

The only way I can think of to rephrase this question is probably by saying something along the lines of how people have been answering it:

Do you make an effort to make your prose sound flowery and intellectual, do you dumb it down, or do you simply write whichever way comes natural to you?

Of course, this is just a suggestion.

Astinus · Aug 30, 2009

I wasn't implying that there's a problem with the question in its current form. My point of that post was to say that I'm not sure why you were saying that "humorous" meant "simple".

icomeanon had covered what was wrong with the first version of your question when he posted. You changed the question into something more believable. Still, I took issue with the fact that you said that "humorous writing means that the writing isn't as stiff". I took that to mean that writers who use a casual tone in their work wrote humorous stories, which simply isn't true.

Your question is fine, and wasn't the focus of my post. That saying was. And the only reason why I commented on the first edition of your question was because it related to what I was talking about.

Feign · Aug 31, 2009

Valentine said:
Or even when the right words are used.

This entire discussion makes me want to bring up Jonathan Swift now, if only because every discussion needs to bring up the fact that a few centuries ago he wrote an entire political pamphlet about eating babies, and that's just hilarious. (Although what really makes this funnier is that people took him seriously.) And, of course, who can forget that lovely part of Gulliver's Travels when he gets drunk and puts out a fire in Lilliput by peeing on it? Immature, yeah, but so very Jack Black.

(Really, I just wanted to bring this all up because I think it's hilarious. I'm not even really trying to prove a point here. Although I do believe Swift would fall into the "archaic" category, even if it was technically just the way people wrote back then.)

The only way I can think of to rephrase this question is probably by saying something along the lines of how people have been answering it:

Do you make an effort to make your prose sound flowery and intellectual, do you dumb it down, or do you simply write whichever way comes natural to you?

Of course, this is just a suggestion.

Reminds me of a non-fictional book I just bought recently (haven't had the time to fully read it, but did skim through it in the store). It is Richard Wilson's Don't Get Fooled Again.

Basically a book about propaganda and other means of deception. I'm pretty critical on his opinion on the matter (or rather will be), but I was reminded of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Redstar · Aug 31, 2009

Eh. Maybe he has a different definition for 'humourous'. I sometimes use it to describe someone that is very emotionally balanced, but one thing that almost never happens can upset them completely and turn them into harsh characters.

It's possible he has his own definition, but I can't imagine any way he could do so.

Miz en Scène · Aug 31, 2009

I think I'll go with Val's suggestion. Thanks.

Do you make an effort to make your prose/work sound flowery and intellectual, do you dumb it down, or do you simply write whichever way comes natural to you?

Eh. Maybe he has a different definition for 'humourous'. I sometimes use it to describe someone that is very emotionally balanced, but one thing that almost never happens can upset them completely and turn them into harsh characters.

It's possible he has his own definition, but I can't imagine any way he could do so.

Actually, my definition of humourous that I don't expect any of you to take seriously(because I'm stating it here for the hell of it) is something that does not sound overly complicated and can at least induce a state of leisure/relax in some people. And yes, by humourous I guess you could say casual.

Astinus · Aug 31, 2009

This could just be me digging this in further, but let me just say that if you do have a different definition for a word that isn't the norm, like with "humor" meaning "something that causes a relaxed feeling in people", then explanation is really needed to avoid confusion.

See, because a lot of people see the word "humor" in terms of writing, and thing that we're all talking about something that's funny. (Scanning over the posts here shows that to me.) When someone comes in and changes the definition of the word to something that isn't the norm, or means something different than what is expected, more explanation is given. Like if I was to use what's considered the archaic definition of "humorous" and mean "prone to erratic behavior". I wouldn't just say "He's humorous", and expect people to understand fully what I mean. I would also add an extra bit of information to avoid confusion.

That's where my confusion came from with this question. Because, Mizan, you meant something completely different by the word "humorous", which caused people to misunderstand your question. A little bit of your definition included in your original question would not have caused all this.

Redstar · Aug 31, 2009

Well that's fairly obvious. We're just discussing this from a literary standpoint, but in an actual story it'd be different... It all depends on context. I'm not going to use my definition of humourous unless it was a fantasy/historical fiction piece, or a work with a similar theme. If you're reading a book like that, it should be obvious what you mean when saying any given word.

Miz en Scène · Aug 31, 2009

Astinus said:
This could just be me digging this in further, but let me just say that if you do have a different definition for a word that isn't the norm, like with "humor" meaning "something that causes a relaxed feeling in people", then explanation is really needed to avoid confusion.

See, because a lot of people see the word "humor" in terms of writing, and thing that we're all talking about something that's funny. (Scanning over the posts here shows that to me.) When someone comes in and changes the definition of the word to something that isn't the norm, or means something different than what is expected, more explanation is given. Like if I was to use what's considered the archaic definition of "humorous" and mean "prone to erratic behavior". I wouldn't just say "He's humorous", and expect people to understand fully what I mean. I would also add an extra bit of information to avoid confusion.

That's where my confusion came from with this question. Because, Mizan, you meant something completely different by the word "humorous", which caused people to misunderstand your question. A little bit of your definition included in your original question would not have caused all this.

Yes it was a bit of IRL confusion. I blame the sub-par english teaching standard of most Malaysian public schools. Old habits die hard.

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