Oh, it's definitely a matter of preference. This is my opinion, 's all. ^^ And I do adore finding a new way to describe things - my writing is full of imagery and metaphors and whatnot, but I think that there's a line that has to be drawn, where it moves from 'fiction' to simply 'pretty writing'.
I have written two entries - not fic, but musings - that are public that I feel to be simply 'pretty writing'. I do it all the time because that's how I think, in general, in images and descriptions, which is why I know where the line has to be drawn. When it comes to fic, when it gets far, far too descriptive, it stops becoming 'fiction' because that implies stories and characters and all of that is drowned under language.
There's a reason why imagist poems are terribly short, and many of them seem almost ridiculous and pointless (for one hilarious example, google 'This is Just to Say' by William Carlos Williams). Sometimes it veers too much into the pretty language and the beautifully shaped words and lines that it stops saying anything about the characters or the story. Because those gorgeous lines aren't really what a character will actually think, so they don't contribute to characterisation, and they don't move on the story.
Perhaps I take too much lit analysis classes, but for me what 'art' and 'good writing' means to me is... well, having something to say, and to say it in a way that people will be able to get your point immediately. Drowning the characterisation and plot in pretty language frustrates me, because honestly the shine of the language fades on the second read (and rereadability is one of the main criteria that I judge any work of literature), and it just becomes like a crystal vase. You stop being entrance by the rainbow and your eyes slide past it.
But I understand that it's a matter of personal taste. I'm just mostly rambling to get my thoughts out proper, really. ^^; So thank you for actually engaging me into a discussion. ♥
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I have written two entries - not fic, but musings - that are public that I feel to be simply 'pretty writing'. I do it all the time because that's how I think, in general, in images and descriptions, which is why I know where the line has to be drawn. When it comes to fic, when it gets far, far too descriptive, it stops becoming 'fiction' because that implies stories and characters and all of that is drowned under language.
There's a reason why imagist poems are terribly short, and many of them seem almost ridiculous and pointless (for one hilarious example, google 'This is Just to Say' by William Carlos Williams). Sometimes it veers too much into the pretty language and the beautifully shaped words and lines that it stops saying anything about the characters or the story. Because those gorgeous lines aren't really what a character will actually think, so they don't contribute to characterisation, and they don't move on the story.
Perhaps I take too much lit analysis classes, but for me what 'art' and 'good writing' means to me is... well, having something to say, and to say it in a way that people will be able to get your point immediately. Drowning the characterisation and plot in pretty language frustrates me, because honestly the shine of the language fades on the second read (and rereadability is one of the main criteria that I judge any work of literature), and it just becomes like a crystal vase. You stop being entrance by the rainbow and your eyes slide past it.
But I understand that it's a matter of personal taste. I'm just mostly rambling to get my thoughts out proper, really. ^^; So thank you for actually engaging me into a discussion. ♥