Is There Beauty In Verbosity?
Commenting on Franci's last Hive Talk in which she featured Pascal Derrien, I said that Pascal articulates his responses to comments in a simple way using quite as many words as necessary to express his thoughts. I also added that it is one of the qualities I appreciate most in people.
That comment was a germ for writing this post.
Those of you who know me from social media might have noticed I never write long comments and use complicated sentences. It is because English is not my native language, but also because of my nature that embraces brevity in speech and writing even in my mother tongue.
Despite my penchant for brevity, I am not entirely opposed to verbosity. A definition of the word verbose is: 'containing more words than necessary to explain a thought.' Verbosity is sometimes necessary to provide a precision of the narration or helping explain complex ideas or messages.
When I was in high school, I had the required reading list of writers like Dickens or the Russian writers who all had been extremely verbose. Some sentences contained several hundred words! Dickens was famous for being overly verbose, or Faulkner who used long, flowery sentences. It was the age of verbosity.
Still, there is beauty in verbosity as in novels by Gabriel García Márquez. Equally brilliant in large forms, in hundreds of pages, as well as in short stories, he wrote beautiful, long sentences. A delight to read!
Good prose, no matter the length of sentences, goes down smooth and easy. It is almost like dancing with words.
Unlike such prose, there were books I never finished reading. I found myself re-reading lengthy sentences in futile attempts trying to comprehend what the writer wanted to say. There was no pleasurable reading experience, only the feeling of wasted time.
Some articles I found lately on publishing platforms reminded me of those books. I somewhat understand writers who have just started their writing journey, sharpening writing skills on the go. I was one of them. Many novice bloggers are under the misconception that writing more words makes them better writers.
But some deliberately choose to write in a seemingly philosophical narrative style with needlessly long and complicated sentences. I take my hat off to them. It takes real talent to construct such writing that looks like profound wisdom when it is not.
Language is an instrument for expressing thoughts. Words should have a purpose and not just be for the sake of themselves. Why then complicate and hide behind words that writers cannot communicate in the comprehensible style. Especially on social media where most of us write to entertain, engage, inform, or convey a message to readers.
To write tediously prolonged and complicated seems more like egotistical boasting.
When a reader goes back to re-read a sentence to understand it, the writer has failed.
On social media, however, there is an audience for everyone and every style of writing, including complicated and verbose with long-winded sentences that sound vague and unclear.
For some, such a style is pretentious and inflated, others see it as a feature of a philosopher and thinker.
As always, the audience decides.
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Komentari
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #48
Fay Vietmeier I am finally able to reply to your comment. People from the technical support team managed to solve the problem with commenting after almost two weeks. Dear Fay, thank you for reading and commenting. I'm glad that my words made you chuckle. :-) I also noticed that you often cite the Bible in your comments. I admire how you’re passionate about your beliefs, and I understand that you quote the Scriptures with noble and good-hearted desires. But I'm just not a fan of using the Bible quotes to support one's viewpoint (and I see it a lot of times in online comments on beBee). As with other citations, I don’t take quotes for it because I need to read the cited words in context. So let's leave quotes aside and use our words instead. :) I wish you and yours a healthy and prosperous New year.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #47
Luis David de la Fuente
prije 4 godine #46
Luis David de la Fuente
prije 4 godine #45
Fay Vietmeier
prije 4 godine #44
Lada \ud83c\udfe1 Prkic Lada~ I like to think that getting a worthwhile point into the right words is as Scripture says: "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver" the ability to "dance with words" is indeed an art Aim for the heart and speak from the heart ... that's my style ;~) Brevity is a most valuable consideration ... causing the writer to THINK ... and then write Too often the words chaotically land on the page and stay ... when they need to be reordered & rethought So many good points that you make This brought a chuckle: "But also, there are authors who deliberately choose to write in a seemingly philosophical narrative style with needlessly long and complicated sentences and awkward constructions. I take off my hat to them. It takes real talent to construct such writing that looks like profound wisdom when it is not." and "egotistical boasting because the focus is on the writer and not on the purpose of writing that is to communicate to an audience" and "A moment when a reader goes back to re-read a sentence to understand it, the writer has failed"
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #43
Thank you for the kind words. While I was re-reading my post, I was also in awe of my writing skills. 😉😀 Dear Lisa, your writing may be a bit verbose, but you put your heart and soul in all your stories in such a beautiful, vivid and elegant manner. It is the type of verbosity I appreciate. As for the interpretation of going back to re-read a sentence to understand it, I was referring to those writers whose sentences are so complicated and incomprehensible that even after repeated reading I still wonder what the author wanted to say. Happy new year to you and yours! I'm looking forward to reading more of your beautiful buzzes.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #42
Paul, as always, your comments on my writing make me blush and proud of myself.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #41
Ken Boddie
prije 4 godine #40
Ken Boddie
prije 4 godine #39
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #38
Thank you for checking, dear Ali. :) As for my other post, things are the same. Javier or someone of the IT staff didn't respond to my request for help with the "missing" buzz. Hoping they will after the Holidays.
Lisa Vanderburg
prije 4 godine #37
Paul Walters
prije 4 godine #36
Ali Anani
prije 4 godine #35
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #34
Bill, thanks for the kind words and long comment. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 4 godine #33
Bill Stankiewicz
prije 4 godine #32
Harvey Lloyd
prije 5 godina #31
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #30
It's the same with me, dear Clau. 😊
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #29
Thank you for always stimulating comment. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #28
Harvey, your thought about the right amount of verbosity in presenting premises and conclusions reminded me of a form of argument known as 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. It applies to an argument purposely presented verbose, complex, vague and difficult to understand that sounds plausible. It gives the illusion that one is speaking from a position of expertise and authority, and if the audience has limited or no knowledge about the subject, they take such claims as truth. I always avoid such people in discussion threads.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #27
Harvey, your thought about the right amount of verbosity in presenting premises and conclusions reminded me of a form of argument known as 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. It applies to an argument purposely presented verbose, complex, vague and difficult to understand that sounds plausible. It gives the illusion that one is speaking from a position of expertise and authority, and if the audience has limited or no knowledge about the subject, they take such claims as truth. I always avoid such people in discussion threads.
Harvey Lloyd
prije 5 godina #26
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #25
My thoughts also, Francie. Why meandering around a subject instead of a smooth sailing down to the point? :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #24
You gave a unique interpretation of your "writing" on my writing, Manjit. You said it is not a comment, nor a monologue, but a byproduct of a stream of consciousness ... that transform the mental process into text. I added the last part of the sentence. Contrary to you, I'll name my response to your "writing" - comment, simply because we write in so-called comment section. :) Call it prolix or verbose your text is a great example of questioning beauty in verbosity. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #23
Jerry, I read poetry posts, but it's difficult to comment on them, at least for me as a reader only. Understanding poetry requires multiple readings or even reading aloud which I often do when is possible. Like you, I learn from comments of other poets on beBee.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #22
I agree with that, Tausif. Thank you for finding this buzz enough provoking to comment. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #21
Thank you, Roberto. I'm glad that this topic is interesting to the beBee audience and generated many comments. The worst thing for a blogger is readers' apathy. :) Some brilliant people I know lack the skill to communicate ideas clearly, even the simple ones. But it doesn't diminish the quality of their writings.
CityVP Manjit
prije 5 godina #20
Bill Stankiewicz
prije 5 godina #19
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #18
Ken, there's no better way to respond to your poetic comment than with applause. 👏 Of all the tips you gave, all I can do is to pretend that I'm Cupid. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #17
Gerry, there are always exceptions to the rules. If a parenthetical sentence stands on its own, the closing punctuation mark is inside the closing parenthesis. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #16
Dear Ali, I knew you would like "dancing with words." :) We are all guilty of some minor form of verbosity when using extra words you mentioned. But I often listen to myself and don't remove such words if a sentence sounds good to me. So why don't use "absolutely trustful." It sounds absolutely fabulous. :) Thank you for sharing.
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #15
Well said, Praveen. Writing is a tool for communicating with the world. I would have never met so many dear people like you on beBee if I haven't started blogging and commenting. Words are what connect us. Peacocks are amazing birds. As with many animal species, a female peafowl is a far more plain than a mail. I wonder what's the human male equivalent of peacock feathers? :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #14
Thank you, Clau. I'm glad to gain one more reader for my writing attempts. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #13
Debasish, thank you for your concise commentary and for the share. Poets are expected to write verbosely and ornately. :)
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #12
Phil, I'll use one sentence from your shortest post I've ever read: "Length in a written work should be tailored to the ideas to be expressed, and not to some arbitrary limit." I couldn't agree more. It's not the length of a post I'm referring to, it's about expressing content through massively elongated run-on sentences that seem like a verbal labyrinth. I've recently read a very long comment that contained only one sentence. After finishing reading, I returned to the beginning because I've been lost within words and didn't understand what the author of the comment wanted to say. I even began to doubt my intelligence. :)
Ken Boddie
prije 5 godina #11
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #10
Judy, thanks for introducing me to the Flesch-Kincaid test. I tested the readability of this post which has an average grade level of about 8. I've never checked it before. But I think it's not crucial for engaging with someone's content. As you said, there is more to the art of communication than that. Thanks for following. :)
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #9
And I fully agree with your comment vChris \ud83d\udc1d Guest
Ali Anani
prije 5 godina #8
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #7
Praveen, your eloquent comment as always reminds me why I love the English language and its vocabulary. :) I am one of those "non-writers" who write blogs. There are many people like me who try to put a few thoughts on the screen to experience what it looks like writing for an audience. My writing does not much differ from how I am talking. That is more apparent when I write in Croatian. When I read a hard readable post I always ask myself does the author talk like that. Maybe he/she does. As you said, clarity of thoughts dictates the clarity of expression. Writing and thinking go hand in hand.
Jerry Fletcher
prije 5 godina #6
Debasish Majumder
prije 5 godina #5
Phil Friedman
prije 5 godina #4
Lada 🏡 Prkic
prije 5 godina #3
Pascal, neither am I, not even a want-to-be writer. :) I'm just sharpening my writing skills on the fly. Thank you for commenting so quickly and for the share. I appreciate it.
Judy Olbrych
prije 5 godina #2
Pascal Derrien
prije 5 godina #1