Wednesday April 2, 2008
It has often been said
there's so much to be read,
you never can cram
all those words in your head.
So the writer who breeds
more words than he needs
is making a chore
for the reader who reads.
That's why my belief is
the briefer the brief is,
the greater the sigh
of the reader's relief is.
-- Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)
In the spring of 1984, Ted Geisel was flabbergasted to learn that he had
been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. "It comes right out of left field,
particularly
after all these years," the then 80-year-old author said. "I'm a writer who
has to eat with the children before the adults eat" (quoted in Dr. Seuss &
Mr. Geisel: A Biography, by Judith and Neil Morgan, Da Capo Press, 1996).
Known to children everywhere as Dr. Seuss, Geisel hadn't always been a
writer of children's stories. Early in his career he published satirical
articles,
wrote advertising copy, and drew political cartoons. Even after gaining fame
with books about Horton, the Grinch, and other comic characters, he kept
older
readers in mind as well. Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990) may have a reading
level of ages four to eight, but it's most popular as a graduation gift for
high school and college students.
Geisel's thoughts on writing may also be more appropriate for grownups than
for kids. After all, the key to good writing, he once said, is
"meticulosity"--a
peculiarly Seussian quality that takes years to learn.
So this week, while youngsters line up to watch the latest animated version
of Horton Hears a Who, let's attend to some of Dr. Seuss's advice on
writing.
Winnow Out and Write Tight!
You can fool an adult into thinking he's reading profundities by sprinkling
your prose with purple passages. But with a kid you can't get away with
that.
Two sentences in a children's book is the equivalent of two chapters in an
adult book.
For a 60-page book I'll probably write 500 pages. I think that's why it
works. I winnow out.
(quoted in "Dr. Seuss's Green-Eggs-and-Ham World," by Judith Frutig, The
Christian Science Monitor, May 12, 1978)
Keep It Alive!
We throw in as many fresh words as we can get away with. Simple, short
sentences don't always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate
long sentences
with short, to keep it alive and vital. Virtually every page is a
cliff-hanger--you've got to force them to turn it.
(quoted in A Writer Teaches Writing, by Donald Murray, Houghton Mifflin,
1984)
Learn by Yourself!
You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by
yourself, sitting alone in a room.
("On Becoming a Writer," The New York Times, May 21, 1986)
Exaggerate!
I tend to basically exaggerate in life, and in writing, it's fine to
exaggerate. I really enjoy overstating for the purpose of getting a laugh.
It's very
flattering, that laugh, and at the same time it gives pleasure to the
audience and accomplishes more than writing very serious things. For another
thing,
writing is easier than digging ditches. Well, actually that's an
exaggeration. It isn't.
(interview in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, 1976)
Do Better!
In late 1990, Ted's biographers asked if, after all that he had said in his
books, there was anything left unsaid. Several days later, Ted handed them a
sheet of paper on which he had written: "Any message or slogan? Whenever
things go a bit sour in a job I'm doing, I always tell myself, 'You can do
better
than this.'
"The best slogan I can think of to leave with the U.S.A. would be: 'We can .
. . and we've got to . . . do better than this.'"
(Melissa Kaplan, "Theodor Seuss Geisel: Author Study," Sonoma State
University, 1995)
More Writers on Writing:
List of 3 items
. An Introduction to E.B. White
. Natalia Ginzburg: On Being a Great Small Writer
. Advice from One Writer to Another
list end
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