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Re: A "choice" to use anachronistic vocabulary betrays a lack of ability to think muppet Send a noteboard - 31/01/2013 09:23:14 PM
I don't see what you mean by that. I think Brandon might have made a conscious decision not to ape RJ's style, and for all we know Harriet supported him in that. She was the editor, after all, and she let it all go through.

It's not really THAT difficult to stilt your dialog and prose in the way that RJ did. I think it's overblowing things to say that it's some sort of grand skill. RJ's skill is in his world building and intuition about politics and warfare, in his ability to keep so many plates spinning and still remain almost perfectly consistent, not in his ability to write old-timey dialog and description. That's something any initiate writer ought to be able to do.

Claiming that Brandon, an established author with multiple best sellers under his belt, is less skilled than an initiate writer is just plain bias against the guy that you're most likely harboring because he ruined your favorite series.

Which is a fair cop, I'm not totally happy with the job he did either, but to call him a bad writer based on his use of contemporary dialog is kind of weak. It was just a bad choice, not poor skill.

I don't really feel that "selling lots of books" is an acceptable metric for being a "good writer"

I am quite happy to say that Brandon Sanderson is a bad writer, in the knowledge that he has sold a pile of books.

By way of an anology; ikea sell more furniture than, I imagine, most of the worlds master craftsmen combined.

Nobody will claim they make "the best" furniture.

I will admit that the only writing of sandersons I've read is his interpretations of RJs notes, but I find it poorly crafted, and simplistic.


While I understand your argument and examples, you could apply this same argument to about any metric. Good reviews, critical acclaim (all of which Brandon has). What you're essentially saying is that good writing is subjective and that there's no way to measure it. If we're going to agree on that, then large portions of this entire board are moot and pointless.
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All you need is love - 31/01/2013 02:12:39 PM 1370 Views
Re: All you need is love - 31/01/2013 02:15:47 PM 835 Views
Mate you're not alone in thinking the androl arc was insanely stupid. - 31/01/2013 04:27:59 PM 755 Views
Re: Mate you're not alone in thinking the androl arc was insanely stupid. - 31/01/2013 04:47:09 PM 783 Views
I disagree. - 31/01/2013 04:59:27 PM 725 Views
Re: I disagree. - 31/01/2013 05:02:46 PM 859 Views
Meh, not really - 31/01/2013 05:40:12 PM 791 Views
Re: Meh, not really - 31/01/2013 06:08:50 PM 779 Views
Completely agree - 31/01/2013 06:20:35 PM 817 Views
Re: Completely agree - 31/01/2013 06:25:11 PM 1042 Views
A "choice" to use anachronistic vocabulary betrays a lack of ability to think *NM* - 31/01/2013 06:38:09 PM 456 Views
Re: A "choice" to use anachronistic vocabulary betrays a lack of ability to think - 31/01/2013 06:42:42 PM 703 Views
Re: A "choice" to use anachronistic vocabulary betrays a lack of ability to think - 31/01/2013 07:41:23 PM 757 Views
Also, twighlight. And 50 shades of gray. *NM* - 31/01/2013 08:27:25 PM 354 Views
Re: A "choice" to use anachronistic vocabulary betrays a lack of ability to think - 31/01/2013 09:23:14 PM 694 Views
Amys has her sister wife to help her grieve *NM* - 03/02/2013 12:49:43 AM 339 Views

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