I want to be Outside

Discuss your favorite wilderness related books. Share your favorite poetry, quotes and folktales. Here's your chance to showcase your creative side!
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Jimr
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Re: I want to be Outside

Post by Jimr »

While I do not read this type of writing often, I can relate to Mark regarding the overuse of a writing style, verbiage, vernacular, etc. Having to read essay after essay written the same way, I'm sure breeds contempt for certain of the above that makes it difficult to digest yet another.

The writing above doesn't really bother me, but again, see my first line. It doesn't really speak much to me because I rather enjoy getting back to life after a time in the wilderness, but I understand her feelings. I get them several weeks after being back in civilization. After the trail dust, bruises, hot spots and soreness have all disappeared from my body and my memory.

My peeve is how writing has changed in the digital age. Constant misspellings and punctuation errors in a rush to publish. Little if any (perhaps) critiques, re-writes, grammar, spelling and punctuation corrections and so forth that used to go into publications. People just let Microsoft do the correcting and hit the go button. It's not really much of a peeve. More like an annoying observation that seems to jump right out of the page at me.

One thing that did really start to bother me as overused ad nausium was from none other than John Muir. His constant use of diametrically opposed simile started driving me nuts. I'm not sure if there is a proper name for the technique, but an example would be his constant description of fields of grass as forests, forests as meadows and the like for other elements of the Sierra. It got to where every time he started discussing a natural element, I knew this type of simile was on its way. Overused in a very predictable way.
If you don't know where you're going, then any path will get you there.
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