So, the customers who buy Firadis are going to buy a nice edited book with only one exclamation point at the end of emphatic sentences (unless I missed a few.) But it wasnt always this way. At one point in the writing process I had someone complain about sentences that ended like this!!! And also like this?!?! etc. Ive been thinking about it, and Ive decided that I did that because Im a symphonic composer. If you ever study composition youre going to be told things like: Whats the dynamic here? Is it mezzo-forte (mf) or forte? (f) Or is it pianissimo? (pp) Heres the rundown for those of you who are not familiar with music notation. n= niente (nothing) ppppp= (unspeakably soft) pppp== (unbelievably soft) ppp (very soft indeed) pp= (very soft) p= (soft) mp= (moderately soft) m= mezzo (moderate) mf= (moderately loud) f= (loud) ff (very loud) fff (even louder) ffff (dangerously loud) fffff (structural damage may result) Not only are you permitted these kind of subtle dynamic gradations, they are _expected_. Youll get jumped on if your dynamics are 1. unclear 2. sparse, or 3. insufficiently subtle. And frankly, I find them extremely useful. Why shouldnt we do the same in writing? Writers seem to have the convention that emphasizing the emphasis of a sentence detracts from the writing itself. All I can say is, if this was how music was written, everything would sound like Palestrina. I think it would be bloody useful to be able to write: Did you? Yes! Are you sure?! Yes!! Because theres no indication that you did! Alright!!! Alright! I didnt... See the dynamics? But I have bowed to convention. Ho hum.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 21:50:33 +0000