Asides

[snooper]

Do any of my fellow editors share my dislike of parenthetical asides?

The kind of thing I mean is:
He could see that the ring was a dragon, with gems, (rubies?) for its eyes, and the large main gem (maybe a star sapphire?) in its mouth.
which I would prefer to see as:
He could see that the ring was a dragon, with gems, perhaps rubies, for its eyes and the large main gem, maybe a star sapphire, in its mouth.

For the sake of this discussion I will state that it is my contention that parenthetical asides are fine in technical documents, but have no place in fiction, except just possibly in first person where the commentator is known, as in:
I watched him undress slowly; first the T-shirt (grubby) then the pants, then the boxers (even grubbier) but, in typical male fashion, not the socks.
and even that is better as:
I watched him undress slowly; first the grubby T-shirt, then the pants, then the boxers which were even grubbier, but in typical male fashion, not the socks.

 

[FyreHeart]

I would be inclined to agree with you. The use of parenthetical asides in fiction or any leisure writing detracts from what the writer is trying to say. Even in formal technical writing I do not see it all that often, however, I guess it could be seen as a quirk of the writer and some writers are very insistant upon maintaining their individual style of writing.

Just my two cents worth.

FyreHeart

 

[KillerMuffin]

The only time direct narrator to reader asides feel natural is when the story is written as if the narrator is speaking directly to the reader rather than the usual indirect style. It does happen and it can be done well. I think it's one of those things that takes practice, though.