05-23-2010, 05:04 PM
Artistic license is a concept that, I think, has been stretched far beyond its intended purpose. It is meant to be a rule that, in the service of some greater work of art, you may occasionally break a known rule if obeying that rule would be more harmful. Beethoven can, occasionally, write parallel fifths to make a certain progression work. Shakespeare can be ungrammatical for poetry's sake, or bend poetic form in order to be understood. Boldness and artistry should be favoured over nit-picky rule-following.
It is not an "artistic license to kill". You cannot simply break rules without thought, and deflect all criticisms with it. Bad writing is still bad writing.
I'm not sure where I stand on "decimate" (whether it has irrevocably changed meaning or not), but since there are a dozen words that work just as well, I don't think "poetic license" fits here.
-Jester
It is not an "artistic license to kill". You cannot simply break rules without thought, and deflect all criticisms with it. Bad writing is still bad writing.
I'm not sure where I stand on "decimate" (whether it has irrevocably changed meaning or not), but since there are a dozen words that work just as well, I don't think "poetic license" fits here.
-Jester