*Note…there will be expletives used in this post*
Sin and Syntax was sort of a let-down. Let me explain…
When 50 Shades of Grey was first published, I didn’t pay much attention. I don’t usually read romance novels; in fact, I generally skip that section of the bookstore altogether. What piqued my interest in that book (and its sequels) was that my friends were all reading it. Sure, Cara was a romance novel connoisseur, but she was telling me that this book was so much filthier than most books. Then there was Angel. Angel isn’t a big reader at all. I’ve always considered them on opposite ends of the reading spectrum, but she couldn’t stop reading them. She devoured them. By the time they announced that a movie was being made, she had read them several times. They both raved so I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the first book in the series…
…and I was horrified. I didn’t respond to the writing style, I found it odd that a so-called bdsm novel was created from a (Mormon) vampire love story, and I was appalled at the depiction of bdsm as an abusive relationship. There were glimmers of hope in there, but mostly it was bad. It was offensive. And yet…it got people reading. It sold like crazy, and millions of people were talking about books; that was something I supported despite my personal feelings about the content.
What does this have to do with Sin and Syntax? Nothing. And everything. I couldn’t help but think about 50 Shades of Grey when reading the back of the book; it has that naughty feel to it (at first). However, it didn’t really live up to the hype for me. I didn’t find the book that saucy, though the cover did get quite a bit of attention in public. A lady at the chiropractor even asked me if it was a new romance novel. I wish I could have taken a picture of her face when I said, “it’s a book about writing.” Her expression mutated from intrigued to disappointed in a short series of morphs. I couldn’t help but giggle. In short, she is not the target audience for this book. Who is then? That’s a complex issue, and I’ve been writing and re-writing this blog for two days, focusing on this one aspect of the prompt. Certainly writers are targeted here, but is that as easy as it gets? I hesitate to say yes. Liberal-minded writers? I can see some of my more conservative friends not responding to this book at all because, to them, it would be too racy. Student writers? Maybe creative writing students. Maybe not first-year comp students because the content is overwhelming to them. I could see smart parts being helpful though. I especially like the section that starts on page 100 – “It’s the verb, stupid.”
In this section (granted, there are many other equally important segments), Hale gives advice that is good for every writer from so-called novice to so-called expert: “many adverbs – especially the how? variety – merely prop up a limp verb. Strike ‘speaks softly’ and insert whispers. Erase ‘eats hungrily’ in favor of devours….other adverbs are hauled in to just add emphasis…but…these subtract power” (pp. 100). We’ve discussed in previous weeks about the things we don’t like to see in writing (due to the fact that is one of my biggest pet peeves). Our talks about about Strunk/White and Gordon also give solid writing advice along these lines. Strunk/White might also nod their heads in agreement with Hale’s discussion about precision (pp. 5) though it’s only a few pages after that where Hale pushes back at Strunk/White (she called them out!).
In terms of advice, all three of these texts are similar and work nicely together. However, the advice each gives is contradictory in places. For example, Strunk/White are very clear that we should not take words from other languages; use English they write. Hale, on the other hand, throws that right out the window. I can almost hear her saying “don’t tell me what to do” or channeling South Park’s Cartman, “Screw you guys, I’m going home” or “I’ll do what I want!.” Gordon would side with Hale, I believe, because fanciful writing falls more closely in line with Hale than Strunk/White. If Gordon and Hale were discussing Strunk/White, she might say “yeah, I’m not about that life.” They are too “by the book” while Gordon and Hale relish in passion and fancy.
I’m with Hale on this one. I find that while I learned (or revisited) quite a bit from Strunk/White and I enjoyed the extreme fancy of Gordon, Hale’s book is the one that suits me most. I really liked the excerpts from published works, especially Dave Kehr’s description of Harrison Ford’s face being the face of America. As an aside, that’s pretty creepily accurate. One of the articles I give my students is from writingspaces.org; it’s a great resource for teaching by the way. Anyway, one of my favorite articles is “Ten Ways to Think About Writing,” which gives ten different aspects of writing and advice for each. The one I try to convey the most is “Fruit Jell-o: Balancing Argument and Examples.” In writing, it’s so important to give examples, but those examples shouldn’t overwhelm the argument. In this arena, Hale does a great job. I understand what she means and the points she’s trying to convey without losing the main point.
Sin and Syntax taught me some key lessons about language usage that I want to incorporate into my own writing. As I’ve said before, I just finished the rough draft of a novel. Now that I’m heading into revision, I intend to use this book quite a bit, but it applies to all of my writing not just my creative side. For example, Hale writes “prose is an intimate exchange between writer and reader. Always think about your reader; hold your audience in your mind. Don’t talk to readers as if they are strangers, or as if they are beneath you” (pp. 7). This should look familiar by now; we’ve heard this before, but it’s the style that I like most about Hale’s writing. I’m learning to make my writing more intimate in a way. And I’ve also been surprised by some of the advice in the book, especially about connotation and denotation. Yes, I knew the difference and I understand the importance of each, but I never really considered how much writing changes if you don’t pay close enough attention to denotation/connotation. That’s another part that could be especially helpful to discuss in a class or professional setting.
I said at the beginning that 50 Shades of Grey had everything and nothing to do with Sin and Syntax. It has nothing to do with it in terms of the content of the books, but it has everything to do with it because it’s an example of what could happen if a writer takes Hale’s advice. The series could have been amazing…if she had read Sin and Syntax and applied the lessons within its pages (except for still being offensive in terms of the bdsm elements. That’s still a huge ordeal). I plan on rereading a good portion of this as I revise my own novel. And I would recommend this book who wants to improve their writing and isn’t afraid of some slightly racy content.
Works Cited:
Hale, Constance. Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose. Random House, 2013.
ProfessorPigtails 