![]() ![]() Even though we don’t actually see the mysterious Tory, we know he wears fine clothing. We know he’s capable of appreciating a fine wine, but that he almost certainly couldn’t afford it himself. Yet without calling attention to itself, this short excerpt tells us a great deal about the character of Silas. Like the private room at Millay's, like the Tory's coat and gleaming boots, like everything in the room except himself.” Rich, red, almost certainly costing some impossible sum. Here’s an example from A Seditious Affair. But trust me, writing great sentences that don’t call attention to themselves is anything but simple. Great prose paints a picture without calling attention to itself. No, I mean prose that is almost invisible to the reader precisely because it isn’t there to dazzle - but instead to carry one along as the plot unfolds sentence by sentence. The sort of writing that gets nominated for literary prizes. Now by “great prose,” I don’t mean pages stuffed with metaphors, endless, overwrought descriptions, and two-dollar words meant to impress upon the reader how smart the writer obviously is. ![]() They may seem obvious, but as a writer, I know this is much harder than it looks. ![]()
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