HOW TO WRITE A GREAT SENTENCE | The Art of Writing | Hemingway | Faulkner | Amis | Provost
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- Опубліковано 17 гру 2020
- Longest Piece of English Literature? At least American English? William Faulkner? Tersest Sentences? Hemingway? Style or content, which is the most important?
‘We are fond of separating style and content for the purposes of analysis, and so on, but they aren't separable, they come from the same place, and style is morality, style judges.’
This is a quote taken from Martin Amis’s essay on Saul Bellow’s ‘The Adventures of Augie March’.
And if as he maintains, ‘style is morality, style judges’, and if, indeed, this is not content produced just for stylistic effect, then this is an idea with interesting implications.
Now there are many different aspects to style, such as The use of Creative devices, Diction, Grammar, Tone, Rhythm, Cadence - and this is not an exhaustive list.
So then, according to Amis, Grammar is Style, Tone is Style, but also - character is style, and even, setting and plot, is Style, and all the Literary tools available to and employed by the writer, taken as a whole, are,, style.
In studying the History of Literature - you find that some of its meatiest and most appealing aspects are - Literary Feuds - enter William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Two, outstanding writers with very different, and in fact, antithetical styles. So following the thread, these are two writers whose writings contained two very different Moralities and Judgments of the world.
This short video essay then leads up to a brief but finely crafted paragraph taken from ‘100 ways to improve your writing’ by Gary Provost, which stands unique as it employs the very form that it is trying to teach, about the art of writing, and how sentences can be stylised for greater impact and musicality.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Absalom, Absalom! By William Faulkner (Vintage Classics): amzn.to/3muyV6f
The Sun Also Rises: Fiesta By Ernest Hemingway (Arrow Classic): amzn.to/38ic88y
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing By Gary Provost: amzn.to/2J0u9jp
The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000 By Martin Amis: amzn.to/3h1X96L
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I love that quote from Provost. I have that book, but came across the quote on the internet years ago. Everytime I read it, it gives me chills. It's amazing how affecting a simple sentence can be when you use the right combination of words, verbs, rhythm, etc. As a writer, it makes me fall in love with writing all over again, everytime I read it.
Which quote?
It's in the video. 👌🏼
I was searching for inspiration while stuck a writing project for school. This video is poetry. Words are powerful, magical tools. I hope someday I will be worthy to use them.
Thank you Michi J... And you're using them right now - keep going...
You already are, cast away your own self doubt. If you are quiet inspiration will find you.
If you do so wish, I hope so as well. I hope the project turned out great
@@kevinthielmann9408oof…
real
What fascinates me are all the things you do as a writer that are considered good practices but come as instinctive. Like varying the length of sentences to provide variety. It’s something so basic that speaks to our common tastes, desires, and humanity.
true most of the "correct" practices I do on paper.... I never learned. I simply do.
I think the same could be said about any skill.
@@SanxBile 100%
I believe it is "just" pattern recognition. A (good) brain learns by means of many examples to distinguish between good and bad language. Often, this happens without being consciously aware of it.
@@domanicvaldezthat’s cause you’re a true writer.
Me personally, I'm more on the side of Faulkner, but there's a time and place for every writing style.
I agree. And also find it interesting how most people fall down on the side of Hemingway over Faulkner. Most people can't seem to bear Faulkner. But there's a lot of beauty in him. Thanks OMC. Appreciated.
The best class that increased my writing skills and feared taking it was “Creative Writing”. It pushed me to not to be afraid to write. It challenge the students to beyond the safety zone. Some of the writing I heard from other students made be blush. I needed to go there if I was to succeed. It was the best class that push me forward and increased my grade average. I still 20 years later remember the stories that were created,
Keep writing Rafael...
😢😢😢
WHAT A GREAT SPACE. This Channel is NOT just another one. Congrats and thanks very much! Are you how many people?
Every word is a choice, and the act of choosing is inherently ethical. The most important ethic of linguistic style, as with styles of any sort, is to dress for the occasion.
- Anonymous
Non finer recapitulation of style has crossed my path to this day !
I am listening to it on loop. It gives me goosebumps and I go straight to write something after watching this. Thank you for such video, music, visuals and the voice.
Hello there The Story Essence. I'm glad you're gaining some inspiration from it. And Thank 'You' for your encouragement. Keep watching.
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow Waiting for such amazing videos. I wish you describe Hemingway's style a little more in a new video.
@@kuchhbhiivlog I put it on the loop as well. My goodness, this penetrates deep. Love it.
WHAT A GREAT SPACE. This Channel is NOT just another one. Congrats and thanks very much! Are you how many people?
I played this video numerous times as well. The voice hits the perfect pitch for conveying such a beautiful piece of text. Thank you.
iiling. Thank You very much. It means a lot. Stay tuned for more. You're appreciated.
The conviction and pathos in the composition of this piece, makes it insightful, relevant and effortlessly enjoyable to listen to.
Truly amazing, I've stumbled upon this idea of objective morality, to enhance my writing earlier this year, and honestly the best sources are in fact the religious textures for a comprehensive set of morality
Ha! Gary Provost is the best how to write author there is. He died too young but his work is brilliantly simple in teaching anyone how to be a better writer. So glad to hear his name mentioned.
Have you read much McCarthy? in the Border Trilogy he hits that perfect medium between Hemingway terseness and Faulkner eloquence. Crushing books.
Hi Concars. I haven't read the border trilogy at all, but you aren't the first to mention it, oddly enough. I'll put it on my list, and look to do something about McCarthy. Thank you.
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow reccing his books is like cheating for literary cred since they are so acclaimed.. but honestly, The Crossing is something everyone who loves reading and having their heart broken should experience
@concars1234 Sounds great. I'll be sure to check out the trilogy. How do you feel about _Cities of the plain?_
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow its a really good ending to the series but a different tone than the first 2. but you'll probably want to see how it wraps up by the time you get there
Mr. McCarthy combined the best aspects of Hemingway and Faulkner (and Melville and John Milton) to become the greatest author in the history of American/English literature.
This is one of the best videos about writing I have ever saw. Subscribed.
Thank you so very much! So simple, such insight, elegantly said. I needed to hear this and will listen over and over again.
Thank you Stephen. We appreciate it. Please don't forget to share it with your network. 😉
It's gripping how these eminent writers are compared here.
Thank you for this video!
Best regards from Ukraine!
This is an excellent video, you communicate better than any other literary content channel. Clean, direct, and masculine, just like Hemingway! Subscribed.
That was beautiful.
Thank you.
Loving this insight. The syntax is one of it
“It was a fine morning.” E.H.
A writer is always open to learning. This is a fine video. I learned a few things that I know will stick. If I watch more, I shall learn more.
Thank you to the “author” 👍
The five word paragraph is amazing as well as the subsequent lesson.
Wow - great stuff!!
Filled with great insights. Thank you & Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas Hoireabard.
Probably the best video on writing I have ever seen. And thank you for the warning of Faulkner.
Thanks so much, Flabarre. That means so much. Let me ask you, what types of videos would you really like to see?
I have had the pleasure of a life time when I've read that piece from Provost.
For my money--or my less than humble opinion, Hemingway is a grand writer, but there is the sheer beauty of music and all there is, and possibly ever will be with reading Faulkner.
I agree. I love Faulkner.
Golden comment.
Hemingway > Faulkner.
There’s such mercurial beauty in simplicity.
I have been practising writing since 2020, started writing my first novel, and then took a break. So far, I have learned one hardest lesson, which is that you don't need big words or a complex construction of a sentence to tell a sequence, rather you can deliver a message with the usage of proper nouns and verbs. In addition, the minimum usage of adjectives is better for a clear understanding. To conclude, your readability score and literary are not predominant in writing, especially fiction writing and story-telling.
I prefer flowery prose,myself,although I do like a simple lettered book to cleanse the palette.
Beautiful depiction, a window to anyone who has a vision to be a storyteller. I cherished this wonderful poetry of lows and highs, the melody in between.
Thank you so much Justin. I've made my day. 👌🏼
As a writer the thing I struggle with most is how different styles can be while being good.
Think of it like music, or painting. Think classical vs jazz or rock. Or Van Gogh vs Caravaggio or Da Vinci. All very different, but beautiful - depending on your taste, of course...
Great video need to watch it twice.
What an amazing underrated video. The algorithm has blessed me 🙏
I'm really glad that you like it, jamisonc. More on the way...
Underrated channel. This is GREAT work!
Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Please share... 👌🏼
Beautiful and so instructional!
Thank you Leandro. Do share it. 👌🏼
Man you are great,
Please keep doing the good work
This video delivers the goods. It presents its subject matter. It shows the subject's significance. Then, after a protracted preamble with the not too surprising litany of idolatrous praise for writers such as Hemmingway and Fitzgerald, it justifies the title by an excellent example from Gary Provost's book without once mentioning Keats. This is a gem of the purest ray sublime.
Keats. Noted.
This is why I fucking like YT. Thank you, dear sir, I somehow really needed these spoken words about the written world, and I didn’t know that I needed.
A better world... and then a fade to "The Written World"... well played. Goosebumps as usual, although my lack of reading culture shows through my inability to fully understand the more colourful sentences. Or should I say, melodic. :)
You don't need to be well read to write well. As evidenced by your comment👏
Captivating narration. Beautiful work.
Thanks RG. I'm glad you like it. 🙌🏼
In order to write about life, first you must live it - hemmingway.
👏👏👏
That lesson at the end was so good.
Glad you liked it, lilbrusselsprout. Don't forgt to sub and share. 😁👍
noun: elegant variation
"the stylistic fault of studiedly finding different ways to denote the same thing in a piece of writing, merely to avoid repetition."
Like music. Simple.
Tracy. this video inspires. I am currently finishing up a chapter I've been asked to write for a book about information literacy.
Wonderfully done.
Thank you.
Oh my, I am in love with the presenter’s voice. His voice is to presentation, as style is to writing 😬
This made my day❤
Now I understand why so many writers also dabble in music, and why in turn so many musicians have also written, and why the southern black gospel preacher nearly sings his sermons.
Not a huge fan of Hemingway, but I love Didion and she used got her style from copying Hemingway books front to back in her notebooks.
That’s really great and worth a 2nd listen!
Thank you Hoirebard! Please share it!
This is so great.
Thank you Lisev415. Please don't forgwt to share.
This channel needs more subs
Thank You DZ. What I’m really working on is getting an Editor due to time constraints. Thanks again for your kind sentiments. Have a good day.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:03 🖋️ *Style in writing is inseparable from content and is a reflection of morality.*
00:33 🛠️ *Aspects of style, including grammar, tone, and diction, collectively define a writer's style, which in turn reflects their moral perspective.*
00:59 📚 *Literary feuds, like that between Faulkner and Hemingway, highlight differing stylistic and moral viewpoints in writing.*
01:14 🖊️ *Faulkner's writing is characterized by ornate, long sentences, influenced by his Southern Christian upbringing.*
01:30 ✂️ *Hemingway's style is concise and laconic, shaped by his experiences as a reporter and modern cosmopolitan influences.*
02:24 🔍 *Faulkner and Hemingway's styles reflect the environments and themes they write about, whether it's the southern heat or city life.*
03:05 📖 *Faulkner and Hemingway's differing attitudes towards language use and vocabulary highlight their distinct literary styles.*
03:31 📝 *Faulkner's tendency to write long sentences contrasts sharply with Hemingway's shorter, more straightforward prose.*
04:41 📈 *Sentence structure in novels represents a spectrum, with Faulkner and Hemingway occupying opposite ends.*
05:09 🧱 *The sentence is the fundamental unit of literature, providing context and unfolding literary meaning.*
06:06 🎶 *Gary Provost's writing illustrates the musicality and rhythm that can be achieved through varied sentence length.*
07:25 🌈 *A dynamic, exploratory writing style, akin to a kaleidoscope, is suggested as more morally expansive and creative.*
Made with HARPA AI
This is a Very Special Essay.
Nicely Done.
This is a very special comment. Thank you, Diligent Sun.
This, and a glance at your channel, has me convinced to subscribe. The flow of this video held my attention until the abrupt stop of the end. Well done
Thanks Kevin. I really appreciate the insight. This is the kind of feedback that really helps us out. I'm glad that you liked it so much. Share with friends? - Make sure you come back for more! And thanks again...🙌🏼
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow Of course! But if I may ask, how come all the videos are done by different voices or narrators?
Not sure if narrator is the right word here
2 years ago, and I missed you
Natural writer without learning from college is best illustrated by marktwain
Yeah, interesting stuff. I still have zero clue how style “is” morality or judgement. 🤷🏻♂️
Sir. This was SPECTACULAR. through and through. Highly agreeable.
Thank you Sir. That’s very kind of you.
Very good. I enjoyed this.
Thanks Robert. Please do share... 👌🏼
Your narration really can evoke the beautiful flow of seemingly basic words and phrases, especially with the 'The Sun Also Rises' extract which I would've ignorantly considered bland otherwise
Thanks for saying so HuigitoBurrito. I appreciate it.
awesome video
Thank you QuietReader. I appreciate that.
As rich as a French wine sauce poured over a slow roasted beef. That video has meat and subtlety. Such great contratsts
Hemingway would appreciate that this is an efficient 8 minutes
This is art
I freakin love words 😅
Now I love sentences all over again.... 💙🙏🦋
Thank you for this
No, thank you....
"What you say IS how you say it."~ Joe Moran
great vídeo!! thank you so much, it helped a lot.
You're very welcome Luisa, I'm glad it helped.
What are you working on?
the sound of Nietzsche
is most addictive of all
then you can not read anything else
Cicero said it best in De Oratore: vary, differentiate, amplify.
Good to know that I can make my sentences as short or as long as I like😊
Reductio
I'm writing a book. It will contain both terse and florid prose. I believe that this combination will allow the reader to be both stimulated and lulled.
The style and the execution was brilliant. The morality issue, though, the moral dimension of the characteristics of a sentence wasn't clear. I agree but it was rather mentioned than anything else.
I think that the length of a sentence or a paragraph or the way one chooses to weave and blend them is structured according to the point of view and the inner soul garden of the writer. There are no rules to follow except for the path of the artists truth and his intent. If you want repetition then repeat. If you want to embroider then embroider. If you want concision then be concise.
A very, very poor attempt.
I thought the same thing about Faulkner and Hemingway I the comparison. Somewhere in the middle.
tl;dr
Just, use an astonishing amount, of commas in your sentences to make, not only yourself, but the reader feel intelligent, for having deciphered such an elaborate, multifaceted, and dare I say, bragadocious sentence!
Several words combined together forms a sentence. Sentences combined, forms paragraph. Paragraphs made a chapter. And several chapters became a book.
When Hemingway wanted to push Faulkner's buttons, he called him "Bill."
That would probably do it
Following the Fred?
“Poor Faulkner, to think big emotions come from big words.”
Write it. Then edit it and eliminate any unnecessary words. Then read it aloud in front of a mirror. Then edit it again so it flows, like poetry.
I think prose is actually a superior form of expression to poetry.
I can admire Faulkner and Hemingway for their approach to writing, even though I do not particularly like either (though more leaning towards Hemingway). The "how to write a great sentence" thus becomes a matter of taste. "My taste is better than your taste" is outdated, so perhaps the best sentence comes at the crossroads where all tastes agree. Provost talks about the rhythm of a text, of sentences in a sequence, not the perfect sentence in itself.
That hardback copy of The Great Gatsby at 1:46 must be about 3 sentences a page.
So true!
Either do a music concert or make commentary about the subject at hand. For the true composer of either discipline, it really is an either or moment. Important moment. Mahalo to the one who thus makes a better eorkd
Good
Good is good. 👌🏼
I’d have to agree with Hemingway. Many young writer’s feel the need to use big words, thinking this will give the writing depth. When in fact it could confuse the reader and take them out of the story.
The key is to use the most apt word.
@ThrdWrldGrl. I completely agree.
What's that background music?
What a fantastic fucking video
I like the part at the end about varying the length of sentences.
Morality could be described as a judgement of what is right or wrong. Can someone tell me, in plain language, how style does this? Perhaps a couple of convincing examples. Thanks in advance.
Read Orwell and then Hemingway, then, when you are ready for it, Cormac McCarthy.
@@bluegregory6239 In other words, you can't.
One of the best UA-cam videos ever 👏
Thank you so much, LeBlancElsewhere. Would you mind if I asked what you liked the most about it? I'd love to get your thoughts.
What song is in the backround of the video?
I really can't remember Brandon. It's been a while.
Have you ever done a video on Ray Bradbury? The Martian Chronicle is one of my favorite style of writings but I don’t know how to describe it. Kind of playful at times with descriptions and stuff. Reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock
Hi NothingHereForYou. I do, but it's not my best. Check it out: ua-cam.com/video/o77c0F548u0/v-deo.htmlsi=UozUJSrDmcFxPHIE
And I'll be sure to pick up Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles'. Thanks NHFY. I appreciate it. 👌🏼
Good site😮😂😢😊
"You have to read alot and write alot."
-Stephen King
Beautifully done THANKS
Thanks DesignedWarrior. Don't forget to subscribe. 😉
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow did so immediately 😄
@designedwarrior Perfect. You're exactly the kind of viewer we want! Thanks DW!
How would people here place J. Salter in this debate?
Hmm
Style is style period. It can be morality but it can also be amoral. The apex of all creative output contain the three most important things and they are, tone, tone and tone.
Tone is your apex. Everything else is tool used for achieving tone.
That's an interesting point of view. Thanks ReethKitchards. Here's a question: Do you think tone is part of style, or style part of tone?
@@TheWrittenWorldSubscribeNow I had a jazz guitar lesson a decade back. The first question the teacher asked me was, what are the three most important things in music.
I replied, Harmony, Rhythm and Melody.
He replied, Nope.
I was like, wait, not a single one of them?
He replied, nope.
Then he said, he was asked the same question by the then Boston Philharmonic Conductor at the time, who told him the same and then replied to him...
The 3 most important things in music are...
TONE TONE & TONE.
I stopped to think about what he told me for about half a minute and I'd been playing guitar for 15 years at that point and after a second it hit me...He was right.
Style is what the man of the street gathers from your artistic output....TONE is what you should focus on, as your ultimate of your delivery. All the things you know about your craft and about the world will come into play but ultimately those little granular aspects are the bricks of the building and not the building itself.
The building it culmination of "All" the little things you do to deliver, the FINAL TONE that your audience perceives. They. judge the totality. Your job is to pick the bolts, bricks, workers, etc. that will deliver that ultimate, expression.
I can play a "C" note...if I play the 4th then the next interval will be "F" and there will be a strong consonance to just those 2 choices...if I chose the 2nd, then I change the interval characteristics of "C" by choosing a more dissonant path...and so on.
Nobody in the audience is judging each note as I play them, they are only judging the totality of what I am delivering.
I've carried this practice through out my endeavors and I only use what is necessary to deliver the ultimate TONE I want my audience to walk away with.
I only select what is essential to deliver the final TONE, no more and no less.
Does that make sense? I think this can be applied to writing as well.
I don't think Morality is a primary function of any creative output. I think it's something you chose in your bag of techniques to deliver a TONE.
But that is it. What if I was writing a Horror story? Morality may or may not be a component to it.
I think that we agree on the essence of the issue, but our disagreement stems from a semantic point. _Style_ , is the 'apex', from my point of view. In literature, _tone_ is what the writing expresses about pathos towards a subject. So from this standpoint, it is a sub-category of style.
When I say 'style', as my video suggests, it means all of the tools that the writer uses, taken as a whole, and expressed in the final work, (if any work is truly ever final). There is definitely a close relationship between music and literature, and so many descriptions do indeed spill over into both. But I think that in this case, we may be overstretching the analogy.
Still, staying there, I will say that _style_ is what accounts for the entire musical piece. In terms of Amis' description of morality, his point is a deeper one. He means that even if a work is amoral, or immoral; its style is a _type_ of morality. This isn't a point about ethics - but about how we approach the world. Writing, and especially the aesthetic nature of it, expresses an attitude towards life, even if it's subject matter is as simple - and as complex - as a warm midnight wind blowing through an laburnum tree.
I take your point completely, but think that when you say 'tone', and when I say 'style', we are approaching the same reality using different definitions. Either way; I hope you enjoyed the video!
Excellent video
Thank you Happius. Appreciated.
Hmmm. I have never formalised a policy on sentence construction. I look at mine and ask if they could be compressed, but I can still write quite long sentences. I try to be careful with YT comments, I like to be stylish but cautiously try to avoid saying dumb things with nice sentences. I do pat myself on the back when I think I have written a good comment.