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  • The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."
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April 04, 2008

TEV GIVEAWAY: LAST LAST CHANCE

LlcFirst and foremost - many thanks to Fiona Maazel for a terrific turn as guest blogger.  We hope you all enjoyed the show.

Second, we're off next week on a retreat to focus on the new novel, so posting is likely to be light around here.

Now on to the main business.  You've met the guest blogger, now win the book.  We are happy to offer a signed copy of Last Last Chance - about which our crystal ball suggests you're all about to hear more - to a lucky TEV reader (though, really, aren't you all lucky?) ... You know the routine.  We're taking all emails, subject line "I'M A LOSER" and, as always, include your full mailing address please.  We'll take all entries until 6 p.m. PST at which time the mighty Random Number Generator shall declare a winner.  Until then, mes amis ...

UPDATE: We love, love, love it when a regular reader/entrant wins.  After seeing L.A. resident Alan Cranis in our inbox for many, many months, his number has finally (literally!) come up.  Well done, Alan!  (And it's heartening to see how many of you, in your emails, embrace your inner loser.)

Posted by TEV at 12:01 AM in Giveaways |

Comments

Why do you post with the royal we?

Posted by:Jacob | April 04, 2008 at 01:33 PM

We're not entirely sure.

Posted by:TEV | April 04, 2008 at 01:43 PM

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RECOMMENDED

  • Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

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THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

  • The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

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