[fasterik]

It's a lot more obvious in academic writing and other non-fiction. Using a lot of big words to make a simple point is often a sign that the writer is trying to signal intelligence rather than convey information.

In literature the goals are different, but I still think the rule applies in most cases. Nabokov is the exception that proves the rule. Great writers have earned the right to be wordy. When an average writer tries write like Nabokov, we call it purple prose.

[watwut]

> Nabokov is the exception that proves the rule. Great writers have earned the right to be wordy. When an average writer tries write like Nabokov, we call it purple prose.

When an average writer tries write like Hemmingway, the prose is boring and unreadable. It reads like highschool summary report of the story rather then story.

Also, in non-fiction, writers who use the shortest possible way to express things are super hard to read. Meantime, writers who use more space are often much easier to understand.

[bitwize]

We see this today in movies. Whatever his faults, Joss Whedon is a damn good writer. But today we have a surfeit of inferior writers who make their characters sound "quippy" in imitation of Whedon and these characters become fatiguing to watch.

[jprete]

I mostly agree with you. But I think great writers have, instead, earned the skill of when and how to be wordy for desired effect.