An Interview with Arthur Plotnik: Author of Spunk & Bite
After reading Arthur Plotnik’s article in The Writer (see this previous post), I came across a wonderful interview on MediaBistro.com. In it, Aileen Gallagher asks a series of questions to dig into the depths of this writer’s knowledgeable mind.
The interview sheds some light regarding Mr. Plotnik as a writer, and about his newest book Spunk & Bite : A Writer's Guide to Punchier, More Engaging Language & Style
The following excerpt (which I agreed with the most) pertains to the “rules” that many writers feel that they have to respect. With these follow-em-or-die commandments, it’s hard to create a work that’s not, well, boring. Mr. Plotnik can state it better than I:
"Plotnik: Convention is reliable, if not always exciting. Writing coaches are 95 percent right when they plump for strong nouns and verbs and rail against mewling adjectives, adverbs, and intensifiers. But outside convention lies the thrill of risk and reward, of modifiers that rise above their slave status on the merits of energy, novelty, dissonance, and so on. The adverb loudly doesn't add much to the verb belch. But when, in a Martin Amis novel, a royal Brit eructs liverishly, I want to put that modifier up for knighthood.
In the arts, rules are more or less reflections of what so-called discerning people have applauded. We need rules for basic coherence in art, but also as points from which to take our creative leaps. Can one bungee jump from nothing?” Read the entire interview here...
If you enjoy Mr. Plotnik’s writing, and want to know a little more about him, you can do so through his brief biography. Incidentally, Spunky (the dog form the cover art of his book) has his own blog as well – what will they think of next?
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