StillStunned
Mr Sticky
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2023
- Posts
- 11,152
In a recent post I compared Robert E Howard's pulp writing to hamming it up as an actor: "You can almost picture Brian Blessed and William Shatner proclaiming the dialogue quoted above, with Christopher Lee as the narrator."
I think writing nowadays tends towards the realistic, the understated, the subtle. But wouldn't it be fun to go the other way for a change? To write as if you want to be published in a 1930s pulp rag, or you're a Victorian author trying to bring the "mysteries of the Orient" to life. Or as if the only entertainment you've ever seen was 1950s musicals, or you'd never read a damning criticism of adverbs or purple prose.
So let's try to ham it up for once! Let's dip our pen in the purple ink, and ask our inner Nicholas Cage to speak the lines! Let's end every sentence with an exclamation mark!
I've found it harder than I thought. It's the most complete departure from my usual style that I've ever attempted. I might need a few attempts to get it right.
The usual rules apply: keep it short, stick to Lit's publishing guidelines, and try not to take it seriously.
I think writing nowadays tends towards the realistic, the understated, the subtle. But wouldn't it be fun to go the other way for a change? To write as if you want to be published in a 1930s pulp rag, or you're a Victorian author trying to bring the "mysteries of the Orient" to life. Or as if the only entertainment you've ever seen was 1950s musicals, or you'd never read a damning criticism of adverbs or purple prose.
So let's try to ham it up for once! Let's dip our pen in the purple ink, and ask our inner Nicholas Cage to speak the lines! Let's end every sentence with an exclamation mark!
I've found it harder than I thought. It's the most complete departure from my usual style that I've ever attempted. I might need a few attempts to get it right.
The usual rules apply: keep it short, stick to Lit's publishing guidelines, and try not to take it seriously.

