My short rant against TV Tropes · 7:48pm Jun 29th, 2015
I dislike TV Tropes, not because it is 'an abyss of links from which you can never escape' (which it is not) but because it is a site that teaches you to speak in jargon.
Jargon, for those who don't know, is the language of specialized words and phrases. Many industries have these, whether it be computer programming or engineering or what have you. It has its place, mostly where specific ideas and things have to be communicated with exactitude and where the concepts and things simply have no corollary to the outside world.
Why is Jargon good? When dealing with people in the know, it greatly reduces the words and time necessary to communicate. Instead of intricately describing what a piece of hardware is and looks like, a single word can be used and everyone will know what is being talked about.
Why is Jargon bad? Anyone not in the know is left out cold.
Why is jargon from TV Tropes bad? Because you are (theoretically) a writer! Your entire job is to communicate with the greater audience. You are not writing for other writers, you are writing for people to enjoy a story. If they don't know what you are talking about, then you will lose them and that is failing. Even if you are not writing for a wider audience, if you are writing for, say, other writers, you still don't want to use jargon because, again, you are a writer. You should be taking every opportunity to write such that anyone can understand and follow along. It's called practice, and there are no shortcuts to practice.
Ah, sweet release... I feel better now. Who wants cake?
(Yes, I am still alive. No, I have not forgotten my stories... I've just been busy, hopefully not for too much longer.)
