17 October 2008

The Ozarks

Vance Randolph once compiled a bunch of Ozark stories in a book called "Stiff as a Poker." It's kind of cool, pretty funny, and an awesome concept. Here's a quote I like from the introduction:
"...the profanity which adds force to an oral narrative becomes monotonous in print." -- p. xii

I agree. I use profanity a great deal in "real life," but far more seldom when I'm writing. It's tedious. I'm kind of melodramatic, so in my life everything's "fucking" this and "fucking" that and "damn" such and such; I have a great amount of feeling to express, but when telling a story out loud, there's considerably less time to express it in due to listener attention span. However, when writing a story, the audience has a longer attention span and a writer has longer to decide on the perfect adjective - or other descriptor - for an emotion.

And I like that. In both cases. I like the distinctions and nuances. I enjoy both methods of storytelling and appreciate their differences, because it gives them character and colour. Huzzah.

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