Yes! I just learned from a writer friend of mine that before Joan Didion sat down to write a new novel, she always copied out by hand the first chapter of Farewell to Arms to find the rhythm.
Can you say more about what makes the heavy stresses heavy? To say it another way, how do we know the heavy stresses are heavy? Apologies if you mentioned this and I just missed it. Thanks.
Great question! I know some of my students can't hear it, so I have them consult the dictionary, which will identify which syllable in a word is stressed harder than the other syllables. So, say, the word "afternoon," it's the last syllable, "noon" which is spoken louder than "after." The key, then, is to ask: which syllable do you say the loudest?
I love the way he takes you there reeling you in.
It's almost as if humans want to move this way, feel time this way, especially as the world has sped up.
Visual, tactile, slowed down?
Yes! I just learned from a writer friend of mine that before Joan Didion sat down to write a new novel, she always copied out by hand the first chapter of Farewell to Arms to find the rhythm.
That is lovely!
Our favorite Hemingway quote: "All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know."
Yes, and then we can get into a long discussion, especially if someone is writing fiction, of what do we mean by "true?"
Can you say more about what makes the heavy stresses heavy? To say it another way, how do we know the heavy stresses are heavy? Apologies if you mentioned this and I just missed it. Thanks.
Great question! I know some of my students can't hear it, so I have them consult the dictionary, which will identify which syllable in a word is stressed harder than the other syllables. So, say, the word "afternoon," it's the last syllable, "noon" which is spoken louder than "after." The key, then, is to ask: which syllable do you say the loudest?
Thank you!