: Re: Why is "It was a dark and stormy night.." not a good opening? Also, why has it spawned an award for bad writing?

One problem is that the sentence is heavy-handed and melodramatic. The dark is a metaphor. The storm is a metaphor. Yeah, yeah, we get it. We're in for a dark and stormy story.

Madeleine L'Engle begins A Wrinke in Time with It was a dark and stormy night. I haven't read it, but I suspect she uses the sentence playfully, deliberately tapping into its long association with heavy-handed melodrama.

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: I used a Neo for several years for NaNoWriMo. I loved it for writing first drafts. The features I loved the most: It is (more or less) good only for typing. You can't play World of Warcraft

@Kevin153

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: I think the problem with long sentences is not length per se, but poor construction. A well-written long sentence carries you along with it, and is a joy to read. Consider this long sentence,

@Kevin153

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: Resources for thesis writing Will be writing my master's thesis in a few months. I have never written a thesis yet though. I was unlucky enough not to be required to have a thesis during

: Re: Why is "It was a dark and stormy night.." not a good opening? Also, why has it spawned an award for bad writing?

More posts by @Kevin153

: I used a Neo for several years for NaNoWriMo. I loved it for writing first drafts. The features I loved the most: It is (more or less) good only for typing. You can't play World of Warcraft

: I think the problem with long sentences is not length per se, but poor construction. A well-written long sentence carries you along with it, and is a joy to read. Consider this long sentence,

: Resources for thesis writing Will be writing my master's thesis in a few months. I have never written a thesis yet though. I was unlucky enough not to be required to have a thesis during

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