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I can’t get enough. While I am no accomplished poet, I do have appreciation for rhythm and it seems I call on the incomplete sentence when I crave a bit of a beat in my work.
For example, here is an excerpt from my unplaced short
“In the Rain”:
There was screeching, smells of hot rubber, steam rising in the air. Metal crunching, moaning, grinding. Glass sparkled on wet pavement, gems that cracked like ice as I ran on them. My feet slipped. My knee hit the ground hard. Glass punctured cartilage.
I find that writers often take liberty with the rules to achieve the result they require but I wonder about other artists. What rules do you love to break? What rules are you appalled to see stretched? What do you do in order to beat that drum? Let me know in comments.
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I definitely thing sentence fragments have their place, like in this passage here. They are good at conveying a kind of chaotic, sudden, intense experience. I use them this way, but I generally only like to see them reserved for that kind of situation.
Great snippet.
I had to mull over your question for awhile. I was never much of a rule breaker, even creatively. That’s something I’m trying to overcome now as I know that the best stuff comes from trying something different (and often failing). I get so frustrated when the idea in my head doesn’t quite match up with reality.
Right now I’m crocheting something without a pattern, just an idea of what I want it to look like. This is a BIG deal for me. I’m hoping that this will help me break away from the tried and true.
Heather,
your writing is very moving;
shows you’ve got a lot to say:
rules or no rules—keep writing,
warmly,
luluvillage.
I like ‘em. Those fragmented sentences. Helps make a point.
Charles – yes I agree. There is a time and a place for them just as well as there can be the wrong place for them.
Chris – oh, crochet sounds like just the medium to break out of the pattern. I hope it works out well for you.
lulu – thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Crag – yes, they sure do