I'm not sure that your comments on Jazz and Classical music are necessarily true. For example John Coltrane said about Giant Steps that he felt that his compositions were just academic exercises. Similarly, Brubeck's Time Out was written as an album to try and use as many wacky time signatures as possible - he never expected the commercial success that it achieved. Miles Davis' Kind of Blue was also written as an experimental album to trial Modal Jazz. So whilst it might be true that the origins of Jazz were in order to bring people together (although Jazz partly originated from Ragtime, which partly originated from people like Chopin and Grieg), it is not necessarily true that modern Jazz is of the type you said, not aiming for an aesthetic ideal. Another thing, is that early classical music also had large aspects of improvisation. People like Monteverdi, would not write complete orchestral parts, and so the chamber orchestra was meant to improvise around chords and the melody, much like some aspects of Jazz. L'Appegiata's recordings are very good examples of this type of thing. Also the origins of classical music, were also to bring people together, both in religious and secular settings, the music being performed in the secular settings being Madrigals. The type of classical music that I believe you are referring to is the "Beethoven-Style" symphony, which admittedly is where the notion of academic classical music is sometimes attributed to have originated from (Brahms was then hailed as the next Beethoven and it took him years to finish his first symphony, the opening timpani notes of which are sometimes said to be "the footsteps of Beethoven"). However, looking at symphonies Pre-Beethoven gives a fundementally different view of them (and even some post Beethoven one's such as those by Vaughan-Williams). In the UK people such as Vaughan-Williams and Elgar's classical music is some of the defining stuff to bring people together (Nimrod etc.), Smetana is the same in the Czech Republic. Classical music had largely the same reason for arising as your reason that Jazz did, and so is it then fair to contrast them in the way you have? I don't know but it is certainly interesting to think about, and certainly not as clear cut as you make it seem. I would love to hear your thoughts! I'll leave references to the things I mentioned below: Coltrane's Giant Steps: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rt-Pmdupz5fRfY0.html Explanation of the Music Theory of Giant Steps: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bJikfNmXtZ-lYqs.html Brubeck's Take Five: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lZeUYKSpzprRmI0.html Davis' Kind of Blue: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oJ-Bi9OX2823hp8.html L'Appegiata Concerts: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fb-JYNicsqi6pWg.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oq-Pgs-g1reac4U.html Examples of Madrigals: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g52HY6piyJ7KemQ.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/grBnicyjqLnHoGQ.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mauPasSi2c3VpaM.html The Symphony Pre-Beethoven: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jJZoq7h6x-CsYZs.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hNVdiNmXveDMYWw.html Vaughan Williams: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/epajdpepx9-4ZZc.html Smetana: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aa1kga6r0synXYU.html Elgar: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hM6egMdir9Kbg3U.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qKhlgcWhxM3Rl4WX.html

That's part of why I love Ray Bradbury so much. His writing isn't flowery prose for the sake of sounding complicated, he picks very specific language. You know the color, taste, smell, texture in every scene and he can pull that out in just a few sentences. He understands how to change the rhythm of his words in order to build tension. Even if I haven't read one of his books in years, I can remember his scenes much more vividly than the books I read last month.

Engaging story with beautiful sentences every here and there is my favorite :) that’s why I love Murakami. He tells me a story as if we’re walking down the boulevard and every now and then he talks so wisely that it’s nearly impossible to understand, as if he’s checking if I’m still listening.

Fitzgerald is a great example of someone who can do both. It's hard to replicate people like him, though, because that's *his* style and the people of today's time aren't looking for that. Write what comes natural to you. Purest form 👍

I'm early for once so I'm gonna write this in hopes that you might see it. I genuinely love your content. I appreciate it so much, and I appreciate you for creating it. Very few people on this platform are creating content that I find as intellectually engaging as yours. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas through these videos. Never forget how valuable and thoughtful they are.

People here have mentioned names like Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde and Murakami, as writers who've shown how beautiful interesting stories can be told in beautifully written sentences. And I agree. I personally feel drawn to beautifully constructed sentences, making me stop and read them a number of times as if cherishing another bite of your favourite dessert. It is almost like a physical sensation for me when I come across words used beautifully. Another, not so famous example I suppose, but in my opinion, very much similar would be the book- "A gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles. I'm re-reading the book second time now and no doubt it's beautiful. Both the story and the words are splendidly beautiful and moving.

Story is the most important thing, for sure, but I also really like it to be written in ambitious, beautiful prose. But there's a difference between high level prose that genuinely compliments and elevates the story, and purple prose that just brings attention to itself and ultimately comes across as pretentious. Obviously, more people will respond to simpler prose, but elevated writing adds more nuance to the story and gives it more layers. So I don't think it's too much to ask for both a good story and beautiful writing.

In my opinion, beautiful sentences can only originate from engaging stories. Of course, anyone can write something beautiful about a rock on the side of the street that has nothing to do with the story, but (personally for me) literary beauty can only come from depth, not big words or 'clever' structure. Really these generically 'beautiful sentences' are sometimes only a few pleasing words the author, poet, writer, strung together.

For me, eliciting emotion is the most important aspect of a story. My favorite stories captures the interest of my subconscious immediately through relatable emotions. I read to feel and experience. Both beautiful, illuminative language and an engaging plot can fulfill this desire, but an engaging plot is more essential

Murakami is one that comes to mind that has both of these qualities.

Faulkner about Hemingway: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." Papa Hemingway: "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"

Pretty sentences vs. engaging story depends entirely on my mood. An author who can accomplish both is a hero. But I'm reading Proust right now which isn't always engaging but frequently beautiful and I'm loving it. However, the Night Circus, which is often praised for being gorgeously written, couldn't hold my attention one bit.

I think for me the most important thing is: have a good story and tell it well. The words are like the notes that comprise the piece of music and we ultimately have to realise we have to craft the story on an intuitive rather than ultra conscious level. I hope that makes sense. Basically, I love stories with layered, engaging plots but conveyed in a way that conjures vivid images in my mind. When we read books, we are effectively surrendering our imaginations to the writer for a while, so the book has to create vivid images or the reader ultimately falls back into their own minds.

As a writer, I'm a having a hard time to decide to write words that sound good and poetic or just let it be straightforward.

Great video! I agree quite vehemently with it, despite my bias towards lyrical prose. I must mention "The Painted Veil", which I have begun to read recently, as an obvious example of your viewpoint. It stands out among the classics because of its accessibility and pull, the careful yet not forced craft behind the writing bringing a life to the story that makes the reader turn the pages with excitement. Different stories require different styles of prose, and both simplicity and complexity can be great and terrible in the hands of various writers, but a good story written naturally really is the most important thing of all. The reader will lose themselves while reading it without noticing, thus enhancing the experience. I hope someone reads whatever this is 😅

For me it depends so strongly, because I adore prose like that of Woolf, which is so so rich, but I also adore writers like Ishiguro and Rooney who don’t necessarily rely on lyrical prose but write incredibly compelling stories

The story transcends the words, but then again, rich language, like a Faulkner, is entertaining in itself, and tells another story.

I LOVE this - it's so hard to write "easy words" for a writer, and yet so simple for the reader

I always appreciate a story that takes the time to describe the setting sufficiently for me to visualize where the action is taking place. This can be done either with simple language or more indirectly with metaphors. I just don’t want to read a chapter imagining the scene taking place in a living room, only to find near the end that it was taking place in the basement.

I think it all boils down to context. If I was writing a blog, I'd definitely go for economic writing. If I were writing a more complicated book, I might go for the complex sentence structure.

An engaging story always allows you to reach a wider audience and people will pick up on the message quicker. Good literature should be accessible and move people no matter what your background is.

I think that if you make it in a nice pace and the character are interesting/lovable it doesn't matter if it's written in a hard way to read people will still like it. You can read a story about an interesting man walking down the street and doing nothing if it's in a nice pace. You will probably drop a book about the most boring person in the world doing incredible things, even more if it's on a bad pacing(except a couple self insert books).

I remember you were reading Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and I was drawn to the whole novel because of his beautiful sentences. The author has mentioned that he used the structure found in most Eastern storytelling - kishotenketsu. Where there is no confict nor transformation needed for the main character to go through. The structure may not be that engaging without these elements, however I find that more of a human experience rather than achieving a "superhuman" ideal. The pressure to have breakthrough moments which only happen to a select few. By writing about the mundane in a beautiful way and perhaps taking the focus and pressure to change out of the characters, the writer allows the readers to also ponder on just being and not having to be "great". Let me know your thoughts, I'd love to see another perspective. 🥰

Such a helpful video -- and so true.

I've tried writing every day these past few weeks and one benefit is that it's really helped me see that I prefer to get my desired level of detail across as simply as possible. Some things can only be properly expressed with complex, beautiful sentences, whereas other things are better expressed plainly. It's evident when I go back and read my text aloud if something should be simplified.

This one came at a very very critical time. I cant stress how important this was to me. Love it. Keep up the good work

Thanks for this, just got sent it by a friend. I think I fall into the second group. Simple not complicated, but I add the occasional "economical" lines to jazz it up. I know I can't right smart as it shows I'm trying too hard to sound it so I keep it simple and tell a story whilst adding the smarts I know that flow within my style. As you can tell from the way I compose this comment. Currently working on a fantasy story which sits somewhere between a novel and transcript or screenplay. Struggling... but persevering I'd say, just getting my image and story on paper for now. It's the showing not telling that's blocking me. 😒

I find I need both. I like concise storytelling with moments of flowery language woven in. I have adhd so my focus follows stimulation AND novelty so a writer who can switch it up is more rewarding for me.

I like they art of story arrangement, each author has it own writing style. Some are poetic, comedic or philosophic. Their flow defines the art.

This video has comforted me on SO MANY insecurities as a beginner writer. Thank you.

I feel like they both serve different functions really. Like the importance of being clear in your writing and communication in regards to academia is crucial, and it's also crucial in regards to making a point. But if you are just writing something for the fun of writing something then just playing around with aesthetics and seeing what happens sounds more natural, but you can always mix some of them together to get the best of both worlds. Also that thing about jazz is super interesting, I've really gotta check out jazz music properly.

i love your jazz vs classical music comparison! really smart hehe

Just recently came across your channel. Thank you for posting this video - I have read only two books on writing (as crazy as some might think that is), but it's true. Based on your recommendation, I read Chuck's 'Consider This' in less than 24 hours (pretty good if you know me), and I loved it. I cannot wait to re-read it again to highlight some things I want to keep in the forefront of my mind. Thanks to you, I have two books to read each year on writing. The first is King's 'On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft'. Thanks again!!

The majority would like a simply delivered story than an intricate language. Like 'The Little Prince' can convey its messages in an impactful way even though it was written in a children's story style. And it's being more apparent to me that, Complexity may speak intelligence, but Simplicity is a mark of a Genius.

I agree with you on simplicity, but it's also fun when writers can make dull, ordinary events engaging through elaborate/unique phrasing

beautiful sentences

Personally I prefer beautiful sentences.. it is just so memorable

You're also illustrating the differences between literary fiction and genre; poetry vs "journalism," character study vs story & plot. Personally, variety is always best. In my own writing, I tend to lean literary with multi-genre. Balancing this is no simple task. Of course, I don't have many readers, but we all have to be true to our own flow, right? BTW, I don't agree with your implications about Jazz, but I get where you're coming from :^) SUBSCRIBED

Beautiful sentences romanticizing the mundane>>> And I wonder, why not both? I don’t think pretty sentences and a great story are exclusive to each other. But I do understand how a great story told simply is more accessible.

👏bless you

I'm a writer of simple poems looking to write more prose. I appreciate you sharing some approaches on this.

Peace be unto you! I’m using this to develop my grad school papers!

I think doing both is absolutely possible! (e.g. The Song of Achilles, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Secret History, The Lord of the Rings etc.) And also I just looove languages so I always appreciate some beautiful prose :)

I like this topic. Try reading the essay “the sentence is a lonely place” by Gary Lutz. Any of his short stories are also a great way of covering the topic.

This is great content and you are cool.

Both! Really depends on your style, but every literary text needs both signifieds and signifiers. Both content and aesthetic play a role

Like before watching for sure!

hello i am from switzerland and i wanted to say that ur videos r insanely inspiring to me :) i took a german exam last saturday to get into this higher school and i dont think i wouldve worked so hard if it wasnt for u ! i dont know if ive gotten in yet, maybe i wont, ... but either way, thank you !

You have a very pleasant voice☺️

Reading Henry Miller , Saul bellow or Philip Roth gave that sort of mesmerising sentence

I can't agree fully, here, because I see a very conscious need for a balancing of both. I went from reading Crime and Punishment, to reading His Dark Materials, to now reading the Woman in the Window, and I am having an absolutely awful time with the Woman in the Window. It is super economical to a point where I feel as though it is frantic and constantly pushing me on to the next mundane moment without ever allowing me to slow down and feel anything. I am more than halfway through and care nothing for any of the characters or their world except just desiring the story to end. In the alternative, Crime and Punishment, being a Russian classic, is loaded with extended sequences of anguish and internal conflict. Singular moments can go on for pages and I know that I might be an outlier for that, but I loved it and it made the characters feel human - not just like characters in a pressing narrative. The comfortable middle ground was His Dark Materials, where Pullman's writing style allows for good momentum with brief pauses of beauty and reflection and engagement with the moment. It's the same adage which has been said about jazz music: 'If you think you're boring the audience, slow down, don't speed up.' (or however it goes, as I didn't check).

I thought I was stupid when my friend asked me how many "Classics" I have read back in 8th grade. Cause I didn't even know what classics were, to be precise. I'm not sure if I can make a distinction at this point either. But after the "reawakening", I started reading Dickens and bought the gothic Bram Stoker. I could finish none of them, I tried, with a dictionary in front of me, a pencil to make notes. But I didn't finish them. I picked up "A little Princess" and then some of Jane Austen. Which I enjoyed reading. Back then I would try to write the 'bulkiest' word I knew of, in the school essays or a post on Facebook. Years later, when I discovered "Catcher in the Rye" or some other books with "easy, engaging sentences" which do not force me to stop and search up words every five minutes I feel more enthusiastic and hyped up to turn the pages honestly. But I can and I do read classics now. They do make my eyes squint but reading them once in a while helps me churn up some of my brain cells. XD

I guess William Faulkner wouldn’t have won the Nobel Prize for literature if you’d been on the committee.

Eloquence presented in the most economical manner possible. That's where the flow is. One of my favorite books on writing for this purpose is "How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times" by Roy Peter Clark. It's a brilliant deconstruction of sparse writing for the purposes of stronger storytelling.

I still think the writer who merges the two the best is Charles D'Ambrosio. He does it well in his essay collection Loitering.

“Ascend the readers”.. I love it.. can you elaborate on that in a Vid? 🔥🧘🏽‍♂️🔥

I think that a good story will naturally have good sentences. Because a good story will make you think. A story which makes you think will have profound sentences which may be easier to understand in a literal manner but may serve as windows to new ideas. This helps us appreciate the writing much more I think

This is really applicable to Philippine literature, especially those stories that were written in Wattpad. There's a tendency that a story will turn out dull or boring simply because it lacks cohesion and beautiful rhythm in its sentences. Most stories are great but they were written in an informal style of writing that will perchance turn off readers. But there are cases when the plot, the characters, and the setting prevail over the construction of the sentences. Stories such as I love you since 1892 (Filipinos know this) is a great example. The plot and the characters are so interesting that you cannot even notice the inconsistency of the sentences. For me, great stories come out from great construction of sentences. One can write about random things and he can expand the knowledge by creating sentences that are eloquent and vivid. Think of an story and write it in an engaging manner. In that case, not only you can write beautiful sentences but you can also create a magnificent story.

The composer for your lie in April, the anime, is hired.

I’ve always been a sucker for beautifully written sentences. Idk if I’d sacrifice a good plot for it but there are times in books where the plot is not as engaging, and it’s in those times especially that beautifully written phrases really help. I guess ideally for me- have both. But if you’re not gonna have one at least have the other

Man's making the video in a way so that deaf people get it as well. props

I enjoy the beauty and artistry of language, but it has to be conveyed with substance, depth, and meaning. For me, the beautiful and sublime has to be more than skin-deep. If a person writes "conventionally beautiful" words from a place that could be interpreted as too surface-level, it may show and seem empty somehow. I want aesthetically vivid sentences, but most importantly, I want the beauty and creativity of the words to make me feel and think and to touch my inner world. The beautiful words themselves are only a gateway to deeper reflection and story-telling, etc. My philosophy on art is what Aristotle said: "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."

George V Higgins is one of my favorites. He was a lawyer but you’d never know by his writings because he used only simple language to tell his story’s. Read The Friends of Eddy coyle.

Beautiful sentences for me any day of the week. I will never forget the following sentence - ''The stars are like the fireworks of the universe''

Good video

I like good stories. And as long as the prose is clean and true, I'll hang on.

Love this. I'm wondering if you can talk about how to start self-teach literature(besides reading a lot of books) for someone who is very interested but never had a formal education? Like where to start? what are the resources to check out?

And it also depends on the type of literature. In poetry, aesthetics play a huge role in terms of imagery, rythm and sound, and so a more plain structure, while it might work, can also turn out shit. Like Sylvia Plath. Whereas in a novel like the old man and the sea, the straightforwardness of it is simply gorgeous

Story and engagement over everything. I think Kurt Vonnegut does a great job with that.

I'm a year late, but I think simple sentences can make complicated beautifully crafted sentences stand out when you used them like once per page, but it's a really good one.

i think this is why middle grade books and coming of age movies are so appealing to me, especially if its from the perspective of the young main character. plus points if the main character is a writer too cause they would realistically use some complicated sentences with the simple ones that create such beautiful, relatable stories :)

this is an interesting topic. i remember when i first read frankenstien in high school; there were moments where i had to reread certain paragraphs because i was focussing on how beautiful it sounded, and not on what it contributed to the story. my current view is that the what and the how are both very important. some people place too much emphasize on the what, and they think that as long as something is interesting, that means it'll be a good story---no matter how you tell it. on the opposite end, there's the idea that how you tell the story is all that matters, and that any event can be made into an interesting story---no matter what it is. now, i don't exactly know how to answer this. i love catcher in the rye, but ultimately, it's about a few days of a depressed 17 year old's life. i used to write about my day-to-day life when i was 17. i doubt reading that would be as engaging as catcher in the rye idrk what i meant to say with all this, i'm also quite drunk at the moment, and thus don't feel like proofreading everything, but this is an interesting topic

You might enjoy Anne Lammott's Bird by Bird

A good story has to be communicated to its readers; it has to be accessible but I do agree that details matter. So I guess a mix of both.

The style is the most powerful craft. Besides a engaging story, one should have a distinguished style. Just like Stephen king.

This other youtuber made a video about comparing the prose of different fantasy authors. And although his sample size was way too small and I wish it was a more in depth analysis. His findings were fascinating. Esp about the usage of Germanic and Latinate words and how that seems to affect prose (Germanic comes across as more archaic and flowery, while Latinate is more straightforward and modern sounding). I can't stop thinking about it. And the fact that Rothfuss seems to be close to Tolkien with his structure and use of Germanic words over Latinate, but he uses less adjectives

I love the way hemingway wrote . Simple 🙂

You should do a video abot how to keep "The momentum".

I agree with this very much! I think verbal storytelling is very similar to reading a story because most readers are verballing telling themselves the story as they read. The example of telling a story to a 10-year-old kid is very applicable because books work very much the same way. There have been a few times where I could not continue reading a story because the sentences were too complex when a simpler yet catchier sentence would work better. I think like most things there is a balance to writing elegant sentences but also being engaging.

Your overall point is absolutely spot on. But in terms of the music comparison I think jazz is as elitist as classical music. Both are great forms of music but they both aspire to aesthetic perfection rather than speaking to the common person. Bebop artists didn’t want people dancing to their music.. A better comparison would be blues, country, bluegrass, or even more current music genres like rap, hip hop, grunge or emo. But for the improvisational element you pointed out blues and bluegrass would be a better comparison as those for limit themselves to the most basic musical syntax to serve the telling of a story.

Sometimes I have a story in my head that I want to define by making the words so accurate I come up with beautiful sentences, but other times I want to explain something and use the most logical words. It comes in flows. (Also kind of depends on the book I’m reading.)

I think it depends on the format and the audience. If there's a reader who needs you to constantly jingle the Playskool plastic toy car keys in front of their eyes to keep them engaged, but you're trying to tell a mature story, why cater to them? Are they your desired audience? Are you writing a book or a telenovela? If you're in it as a business, then it doesn't matter, but don't compromise your art for the sake of someone with a low attention span.

Of course, if story were always more important than language, we would have never even heard of Moby Dick. The thing is, though, not everyone is a Melville

2:39 that is the entire description of Walden by Thoreau

But it is really context-dependant. Take, for example, Cortázar. His intricate and complicated prose is really beautiful and full of meaning that could not have been achieved using day-to-day metaphors or words

I was thinking about this not too long ago. When i was a kid i would read basically everything that i could get my hands on, but most of those books i have no recollection of. The books and short stories that have stuck with me are rarely intellectually or linguistically complex, they are mostly written in common slur and have a rather simple plot line with nicely developed and interesting characters. Overly complex language and structure tends fails when it comes to engagement and accessibility and we should unlearn this preconceived notion that complex equals good, because if a story refuses to be read by the regular person is failing to be a story.

A perfect story for me is how is the reader going to image the sequence of a plot in his mind. If a writer knows how the reader will imagine himself being one of the character in the story he is going to succeed in the writing process.

The great writers usually find the balance between both. Clear action sentences punctuated with quotable quotes.

I recommend watching this video at .85 speed. Good subject matter though! I definitely see myself as a colorful sentence from a background in academia. Still, I think you can find a good balance. :)

Well, this explains our decreasing attention spans.

All of my favorite authors seem to have found a way to combine the two, but they're so very very rare that it's maybe once every year I find a book like this. Otherwise, I'm drawn to stories that suck you in... usually pretty simplistic language. Maybe 5th grade reading level. In these stories, it's the actual plot and the characters that hold my attention, rather than the language.

I think it comes down to purpose. If you're telling a story to keep someone engaged you would need a simpler, more engaging flow in the words you use but if you want to create something that's intellectually and emotionally challenging then more often than not beautiful words is the way to go. Personally, books with deep meanings that explore different aspects of a concept leave a deeper impact on me and a lot of those books have a mix of kinda abstract and beautiful words to portray what the author is trying to. Breaking down complex intellectual/emotional understandings down to something everyone universally will understand and enjoy is something really, really hard to do. It's like converting a book to a movie, the movie may still be quite enjoyable but it lacks a lot of the depth and intensity one portrays with words and the same goes with movies. It's hard to translate body language and actions into words. Not impossible should you be someone who can comprehend both well, but nevertheless hard to achieve. On the other hand you can have a story that is simple and elegant rather than challenging your ideas can instead leave more of an emotional impact on the the way you feel. Something that sparks joy Or sadness without diving into the complexities of those emotions. So really it comes down to why do you write, what makes you want to write and what do you want to write?

I am just here for the intellect. I vote for engaging story though.

I think it's easier and more engaging to read a story that uses simple language, but from my reading experience the pay off to the stories that are hard to read is better. I feel like the reason why is the same reason why I think the pay off to books is better than to movies: there's more effort put in, and we tend to connect more to the things we really put effort on. There's a nice feeling of acomplishment to it. Sorry for my english, it's not my first language :)

Hello! My friend and I ran into you today, hope your writing is flowing smoothly. Thank you for being so kind and welcoming (I was almost too scared to approach you haha). I haven't seen all of your videos however, the ones I have seen, have had a surprisingly large and positive effect on my life. As a low-key novice literary lover, I would be interested to know if there are any cool events coming up? Apologises for writing this here, I don't typically use any other forms of social media.

Idk why thb but I would love to watch a study vlog by you

The problem i have with the classics is while they have beautiful sentences and imagery they meander with the plot! I'm reading the Ox bow Incident and its 4 pages of guys playing poker! It has nothing to do with the plot nor does foreshadow anything later. Its the same story with most classics, a lot of beautifully written scenes don't contribute to the overall narrative. I think that's why I love A song of ice and fire so much because you have those written sentences that evoke classic literature (ok, a bit, not exactly) yet keep the narrative focused on progressing the plot

Do you have a goodreads or space on the internet where you've logged the books you've read? I'd love to see it.

Being funny is most important in my opinion. If you can follow the logic of a joke for enough pages, it becomes a story. Simple and complex at the same time in my experience.

Yes…this is my experience…especially since the time an author has to engage a reader has dropped to 3 minutes from 12… thanks 😊