tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post8358213002329986426..comments2024-01-19T13:24:15.734+00:00Comments on ::Acquired Taste: Tim Strettonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-66927292900812479582010-04-19T09:13:22.333+01:002010-04-19T09:13:22.333+01:00I'm like David - I tend to confine my tics to ...I'm like David - I tend to confine my tics to particular books. In Testament it was the verb 'forbear'. In my last book there was a tendency talk about the state of the sky too much (an extension of the British obsession with weather? The book was set in West Wales where there's an awful lot of weather.) I'm not sure what the current tic is, I'll let you know when I've finished. But I do know that I used the word 'forbore' for the first time the other day and I'm 80% or more through!Alishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18406189984167289987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-186924900179864832010-04-19T07:53:01.009+01:002010-04-19T07:53:01.009+01:00"Relish" is a good word. If it's no..."Relish" is a good word. If it's not overused, I don't think it's a tic.<br /><br />I get more worried when writers use the same characters, with different names, in every book. That's less a tic than a congenital defect, though...Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-7194939864933191412010-04-17T16:23:26.454+01:002010-04-17T16:23:26.454+01:00I tend to have a major tic per book, but it's ...I tend to have a major tic per book, but it's usually a tic unique to that book. <br /><br />It's typically an unusual verb, and I have no idea I've used it more than once.<br /><br />Writer Carolyn See once noted that her late partner, John Espy, was incapable of writing a prose work with out stating that a character "relished" something. "Relish" wasn't overused in a given book necessarily, but appeared in everything he wrote.<br /><br />Even an editor wouldn't catch that tic (if indeed it qualifies).David Isaakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04928598446742324391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-91175734318665968172010-04-15T14:46:43.913+01:002010-04-15T14:46:43.913+01:00'I don't know what the alternative is (sip...'I don't know what the alternative is (sip? gulp?) but "taking a swallow" sounds awful. Ornithological, even.'<br /><br />Pornographic, in fact...Tim Strettonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598897603628943741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21671128.post-9072026991813238432010-04-15T14:30:17.419+01:002010-04-15T14:30:17.419+01:00I think you're right, Tim. The editor (or a re...I think you're right, Tim. The editor (or a reader) is far more likely to pick up on these than the writer, although I'm aware of some of my own. "On reflection", "s/he contrived to..." are two, and my characters drink a lot of tea and wine. But the one that maddens me the most is a well-known author whose characters, when drinking, invariably "take a swallow" of whatever it is. I don't know what the alternative is (sip? gulp?) but "taking a swallow" sounds awful. Ornithological, even.Frances Garroodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10614916006798375706noreply@blogger.com