I majored in English but I had not really heard about E Prime much during my college years, quite a long time ago. For those who don't know much about E prime, I'd suggest you go here and listen to the Podcast "Why I Speak The Way I Speak" at http://www.taylormali.com.
At the very least, this Podcast will reveal how hard it can be to write without using form of "to be". Also, I want to go on record as noting that I am NOT going to write this piece in E Prime - but I am going to write ABOUT it and try to avoid overuse of forms of "to be".
E Prime controversial so a few examples could simplify understanding. Consider these two sentences.
1 . Patty is compassionate.
2. When Patty put her around around her, Sarah was deeply moved by Sarah's compassionate gesture and attempt to comfort her.
Think about the difference between sentence one and sentence two. Which truly reveals more and which adds telling details? Of course, sentence two could also be written with many forms of "to be" and still be a strong sentence. That is not my point. What I am trying to express is that sometimes writers water down sentences by relying on simple descriptions of character and resort to saying "She is nice" rather than trying to find a way to say the same thing in a different, unique way. How is one person's "niceness" unique or what does it reveal about that person?
Even if you HATE E Prime and find it an artificial device or you think it squelches your creativity, I urge you to take some of your writing, new or old, and play around with it, using E Prime. If you need examples, have a look at some websites or get some E Prime books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Ebay or your local bookstore.
Taylor Mali's website is a good place to start if only because he SPEAKS in E Prime and that drives home the direct, strong force of that style. You get to hear the spoken version. I find it pretty powerful. How about you?
I also suggest you look at the link below or just do a search for E Prime and writing on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. One site:
http://www.angelfire.com/nd/danscorpio/ep2.html
Not being one drawn to dogmatic approaches to writing, I have to say that I find it difficult to believe that "to be" always waters down a piece or that it tells rather than shows, by action or dialogue, the points of the article or story. But I do see the advantages of thinking about it, using it and adding it to your tips and guidelines.
One fun, interactive site where you can test YOUR sentences for E-Prime:
http://www.manifestation.com/neurotoys/eprime.pl
Try it, have fun, let me know what you think.
I know this is only a beginning step towards understanding E Prime but I trust that those reading this article have the research skills to purse the subject more deeply if any of what I've written is interesting.
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Comments: 18
What is your very best article on Gather? Inquiring minds want to know!
:)
Always building the characters or scenes in my stories while we walked and talked each day. She also said that when she spoke of this to her husband, he suggested that I spoke the way I did because I read a lot.
I was a little offended, and I thought "How does he even know that I read a lot?"
My only defense I suppose, is that I am what I am what I am.....t
Some people are high content communicators - others are not - personally I love a well drawn story, in print or told on a long walk.
"Is Maxwell the guy who paints his own toenails? Coral Pink in spring, Red Azalea in winter?"
Her mouth puckered to hold back her giggles.
"He is."
Has a totally different rhythm than just saying, "yes."
Thanks for the info, Jane.
I saw a license plate that said
"It is I"
THat had to be a linguist or English teacher. I still wish I'd asked but the car was gone when I got out of the drugstore.
I am so anal that would try to get rid of the word was in the second example.
LOL. You must talk to people who actually tell stories in logical order. In my family, stories went like this: "You will never believe what happened to Aunt Martha! It was terrible! She was walking into the drugstore...you know, the one on the corner of Martin and Washington Streets, where our old dog got hit by the car...didn't you just LOVE that dog? ....I still miss him today...have you visited his grave lately?...You haven't? ...Shame on you!.....That dog nearly saved your life once...remember? when that big dog across the street came over and lunged at you?"
By the time we get back to Aunt Martha, it could be two hours later and she could be in surgery by then.
Anyway, he came home, grabbed a book and took it upstairs to read to his young son. The boy said, "Why did you bring that book that I didn't want to be read to out of up for?"
Five, count 'em, FIVE prepositions - and it makes perfect sense to me.