Jack London
Dec. 14th, 2005 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranI happened to re-read some Jack London this week, and so now, of course, I wish I could write like Jack London.
I love the way the narrator always seems to be leaning forward in his chair to tell the story. I love the way your eye can fall anywhere on a page and find something interesting. I love the way there's never a dull moment. There are slow bits, and digressions, but they actually serve to build tension. There's always the promise of something exciting happening and that promise is always fulfilled. The slow bits and descriptions just become the appetizers. You read them in a heightened state of alertness, waiting for the next reward. the longer the slow bit, the greater the tension builds.
I love the way he uses short sentences, yet conveys a great deal. The sentences are never quite redundant, but they are complementary. They reinforce each others meaning. I love the way he doesn't try to explain everything, and yet never makes the reader guess either. He just tells the story and makes the meaning obvious. If he uses a rare word, the chances are the context will make the meaning clear.
I love the way he builds worlds out of words. Each setting has its own vocabularly. Within that setting, the words become more and more familiar, creating a sort of recognizable terrain.
I love the way his dialogue stands out from the narration. You would never confuse a line of dialogue with a line from the rest of the page. The characters speak with their own words, and their own thoughts, never the author's.
I love the way there's only ever one question when you're reading the story - "What's going to happen next?"
I love the way the narrator always seems to be leaning forward in his chair to tell the story. I love the way your eye can fall anywhere on a page and find something interesting. I love the way there's never a dull moment. There are slow bits, and digressions, but they actually serve to build tension. There's always the promise of something exciting happening and that promise is always fulfilled. The slow bits and descriptions just become the appetizers. You read them in a heightened state of alertness, waiting for the next reward. the longer the slow bit, the greater the tension builds.
I love the way he uses short sentences, yet conveys a great deal. The sentences are never quite redundant, but they are complementary. They reinforce each others meaning. I love the way he doesn't try to explain everything, and yet never makes the reader guess either. He just tells the story and makes the meaning obvious. If he uses a rare word, the chances are the context will make the meaning clear.
I love the way he builds worlds out of words. Each setting has its own vocabularly. Within that setting, the words become more and more familiar, creating a sort of recognizable terrain.
I love the way his dialogue stands out from the narration. You would never confuse a line of dialogue with a line from the rest of the page. The characters speak with their own words, and their own thoughts, never the author's.
I love the way there's only ever one question when you're reading the story - "What's going to happen next?"
