About Comics, part 1

I started reading Penny Arcade, an online comic, which is a comedy about two room mates named Gabe and Tycho who touch on all sorts of video games and technology. In the latest strip, the two discuss the discrepancies between the games Guitar Hero and Rock Band - - Gabe arguing that Rock Band is better because the player has the option of playing the song "Jessie's Girl", while Tycho admits that he doesn't care either way because he does not even like the song. The last panel shows a jury acquitting Gabe of murder, adding that Tycho "had it coming" because of his dislike of the song.

After reading through a few of their comics and getting a feel for their writing and art, I have to say they (the creators of the comic) have an excellent sense of pacing. The comic is usually done in three to four panels, so pacing and using the "gutter" is essential to telling the story. According to McCloud, the spaces between the panels tells a story, linking the images and text in the panel together in the reader's mind. For example, in the comic discussed above, the readers at first sees Gabe and Tycho talking about a game. The last panel shows the jury acquitting Gabe of murder, and the reader must make the connection in his or her mind the passing of time and the series of events that led up to the last panel. A regular reader of Penny Arcade would, after reading for a while, understand the sense of humor that comic strip offers, and could probably fill in that time jump between panels with a sense of humor appropriate to the strip, thus injecting and imaginative humor that I personally believe is far more potent than just showing.

Recap on Peer Review

I have to say, I actually liked the Style Rules Wiki more than using the GoogleDocs because the layout was more familiar and much more intuitive. The actual user-interface and graphics of the website were better layed out and organized. When it came to editing and adding notes on to other people's essays, a simple and easy to find click of the edit button would grant access to the whole document, and you could just dive right into making changes. The reviews and advice I got where fairly helpful, and the option at the bottom of the Wiki's allowed for simple thread posts that reminded me alot of Facebook or IMDB.com's threads. I can't think of anything that would necessarily be a "con", so that means I definetly would endorse using the Wiki for peer review.

Comparing the Two

If I were to compare Strunk and White's book to Williams, I would easily say that despite the grumpy and doddering old man feel the Strunk and White have, I like their book far better than Williams. Williams is extremely hard to read for me because the way he writes is so incredibly boring. Perhaps that has no merit, but the sentiment of his book seems to touch on the points of clarity and decisive prose, a rule which he breaks in one way or another. For example, Williams opening chapter is all about the history and formation of the English language we know and use today, and how we (the users of English) have our difficulties with grammar and diction because of the convoluted evolutions and amalgamations of the language. This part of the book was interesting in a way, but was wholly unecessary because it does not really get the "bare bones", "just do this" instructions that I liked in Strunk in White. Williams seems to go on and on about this and that before finally getting to the lesson. In William's second chapter, "Clarity", he goes on about three pages with examples of good writing and then analyzes them to show what is clear writing and what is not. Finally, page twenty-one, we get two very direct rules of clear writing: "Readers are likely to feel like they are reading prose that is clear and direct when (1) The subject of the sentences name the cast of characters, and (2) those verbs go with those subjects name the crucial actions those characters are part of".

I would have started with those two rules at the very beginning, then went into one example and analyze that using the two rules I had previously stated. There is no need to go into some sort of academic extrapolation. Please, just give me the lesson. Strunk and White and Williams are trying to do the same thing, but Strunk and White do a far better job.

Stuck by Strunk

I would not call these men "Grammar Nazi's", but I would call Strucker and E.B. White "Grammar Stormtroopers". I picture some stuffy old white men with silly curled mustaches dropping from the skies in late Victorian America in crazy old inventions: clandestine agents of the New World, here to clean up grammar and push onto an unwashed and ignorant horde of plebians the use of proper diction.

Sadly, this is not the truth. Anyway: about the book.

The book itself is dry and boring, but flows well. Strunk and White's "Grumpy Old Man" tone add a certain level of personality and flavor that strangely allows the reader to connect with the book. I say "strangely" because, as a lifetime student, I did not expect a book on grammar to grab me as it did. Well, more so than any other grammar book. The book, overall, is consistent and full of useful "How-To's" to help students of all ages navigate the tricky world of the English language. I found particularly helpful the area about how to use commas properly.

However, I did find that some areas of the book where slightly troublesome. For example, Strunk and White tell us students to avoid "Loose sentences", to not "affect a breezy manner" in our writing, and to (in general) keep sentences short and to the point. This is all well and good, but I have been accused of teachers of "affecting a breezy manner" and "rambling" in my papers when I was just trying to illustrate a point clearly. And since Strunk and White believe that style is not something that can be defined or taught easily (section five, an "Approach to Style"), I could see how a writer's style could very well "affect a breezy manner". Also, when you have to write out a zillion pages on a paper that you finished up in about three pages, it can get very tempting to write in a breezy manner.

Anyway, all in all a good book and a must have for any writer - - especially those who want to write academically and professionaly.

Writing Technologies

Throughout the history of Man, the tools for writing used by humans have evolved drastically over the years. From the papyrus and parchments, stone tablets, scrolls, codex of the ancient times, to the laptop screens of today. Even on a much smaller scale, with technologies of the world rapidly improving, a young mind can see the changes wrought in the world around him or her.

Such is the case with me, on some level.

When I was a child, I was first taught to write on paper with pens and pencils. Not too much later, I was taught in class how to write cursive, and then on a computer. What is important is how I was taught to navigate writing - - especially when choosing between writing on a computer or writing with pen and paper. In those halcyon days of youth, the computer was still a new thing, and it was often referred to by teachers in almost hushed and reverential tones: as if it was possible to break or hurt the feelings of computers through over-use (which is not necessarily untrue). So from those beginning days, I was "encouraged" to write my rough ideas, even my rough drafts, on paper. Later, after I had properly molded my ideas I would then use the almighty computer to generate my finished product.

This sentiment has stuck with me even in my adult years. I find it very difficult to brainstorm or hammer out ideas on a computer screen, and I still think, in the back of my mind, there is still that teacher looking over my shoulder urging me not to over use the delicate and moody computer.

However, my comfort and ease with the using the computer for writing has grown over the years. I can touch-type (for the most part). I can type very fast, although I've never really tried to time this. I noticed that now, it is much easier for me to type my carefully crafted and molded ideas (which had been previously fumbled about on paper) than it ever was before. The speed at which I type has surpassed my speed at writing with pens or pencils, though I still feel very comfortable in both arenas.

I suppose the only real difficulty I would would face with writing tools would be if I tried to use a typewriter. When I first learned how to use a computer, typewriters were still around (or at least, still around my school). I don't quite remember clearly, but I do believe I had a few mandatory run-ins with the type writer as a child before completely moving on to computers...and never looking back. It would be years later that I approached the typewriter again, this time looking at it like some ancient relic, some quaint and charming novelty, from ages of antiquity. When I tried to use it, it was awkward and slow, yet still, there was something more tactile and natural than using a computer. There's something to be said about actually seeing the parallel in your key strokes and the tiny arms of the typewriter flicking forward and stamping the page with its mark.

I look forward to the future, when we no longer type or write, we simply text each other in short hand, instantly sending messages to each other through the implants in our brains.

Actually, on second thought, I hope I'm long dead when that happens.

---B, signing off.

What is style?

When it comes to writing, style is perhaps one of the strongest things a reader will remember. To the point, style is basically two things - - genre and tone. As human beings, we all like to classify and categorize things, and genre is one of those tendencies made manifest when it comes to media (literature, movies, animation, television, etc.). A genre is basically a set of conventions used to help classify a certain type of media. For example, in a Western film, a viewer expects cowboys, Indians, gun fights, and horses -- these are just some of the elements that make a Western a Western. In many ways, a writer makes use of these conventions to help detail the setting and theme of the story she or he is trying to write. Genre, can, in some ways, be a universal kind of thing, and in some ways very impersonal to the writer.

Tone, on the other hand, is very personal. Tone is the "attitude" a writer has toward their own story. A reader can "hear" the tone of a writer when reading about certain types of characters or situations. For example, when reading Fritz Leiber's work, a reader can ascertain through dialogue and the narrator that Leiber has a very sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, and dry sense of humor. It lends him a very distinct tone, and because of that and the genre he works in, a distinct style.

In closing, style identifies a writer more so than what he or she writes. It can be both a blessing and a curse akin to that of great famous actors who get known for certain characters they played or pigeon-holed into certain roles (Tim Curry almost always plays a villainous character). But when all is said in done, all the great writers have their own distinct style; it just takes experience and time to have your style not be a lead weight.