Exclamations, by gum!

I've been reading Upton Sinclair's "Oil!" recently and I've been very impressed by his writing technique. I like how he breaks up chapters first of all... He'll have a chapter with a title like "The Escape" and then he'll break that chapter down into several sections which are only about a page and a half long; and they're broken up by roman numerals. There are about ten sections per chapter... it makes it very readable and you can practically stop whenever you need to. I've adapted this to the book I've been writing which is going just fine!

Ha! That's another thing I've liked about Upton Sinclair's style. His use of exclamations are superb and frequent! Practically every section ends in a an exclamation! Even the title, by gum! It properly illustrates and works with the mind the way it should be read in your mind and the way it should be read out-loud. He also uses it a lot when you know he's being sarcastic or indirectly making a point. I really do admire it, and am trying to adapt it to how I write.

Early on in the book I felt inspired by Cormac McCarthy and adapted his minimal punctuation style. McCarthy uses periods and commas only; he uses his commas where normal writers would use their semicolons. He doesn't use quotation marks at all! I liked that because there were less restrictions, but I ran into problems when I tried to put emphasis on a word, or tried to be sarcastic. I solved the problem by making the word in all caps. This trick works with the mind! A lot of modern, prolific writers have their own style and don't follow the rules set out by English teachers. It works if the language is consistent throughout their work. The rules become more clear to the reader as he or she goes along; if they are smart enough they will be able to adapt and will be able to read the new style as clear as day!  It's clearly a way to make writing literature  and help literature remain an art. It works for me! I come from an art family, but I've always had shaky hands, it reflects in my art when it comes to drawing and painting. Writing literature in creative ways has helped me remain an artist and not the black sheep like they thought.

"David after dentist" remakes that are funny: