The Elegant Variation: THE n+1 LETTERS: #1*

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March 14, 2007

THE n+1 LETTERS: #1*

From Editor Keith Gessen, August 25, 2004 (They apparently didn't hate blogs then.)

Dear Mark,

We sent you an n+1 about a month ago, and I just wanted to make sure you received it. You're not under any obligation to write about us, of course, except... well, except that you are. Of course. No such thing as a free n+1. I look forward to it.

Best,
Keith

* The first of an irregular featurette, charting the evolution of n+1's stance toward litblogs.

Posted at 10:55 AM in The n+1 Letters | Permalink

Comments

Ooooh, this oughta be good. Can't wait for the next episode.

Posted by: Pete | March 14, 2007 at 11:37 AM

I've been waiting for something like this to surface. I can remember that even back to 2005 they didn't seem as hostile as they do now. Thanks for posting this (impending) series.

Posted by: amcorrea | March 14, 2007 at 01:01 PM

Oh man. Talk about keeping us coming back. :)

Posted by: ed | March 14, 2007 at 01:27 PM

you should start an n+1 email posting contest

http://www.edrants.com/oscar07/?p=36

http://reader-of-depressing-books.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-entire-correspondence-with-n1.html

Posted by: tao | March 14, 2007 at 03:05 PM

For the record, that email was written after Mark emailed to request Issue 1, which we sent despite never having heard of him. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

He never did write us up.

Posted by: Keith Gessen | March 14, 2007 at 04:41 PM

Quite true - and I missed including your first reply, that TEV looked quite good. I'll dig that one up and throw it in. And I only write up a fraction of what I receive. Unlike n+1, it's just me here.

As I noted at The Millions, for a grou of guys who disdain litblogs, you seem unable to resist following every word about yourselves.

And - ouch - you'd never heard of me. That's cutting, Keith. I am chastened.

Posted by: TEV | March 14, 2007 at 04:48 PM

this is strange

Posted by: tao | March 14, 2007 at 06:06 PM

I find this squabbling uninteresting.

Posted by: Alex | March 14, 2007 at 08:15 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

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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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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

March 14, 2007

THE n+1 LETTERS: #1*

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

March 14, 2007

THE n+1 LETTERS: #1*

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism