E + picene = EPICENE
ep·i·cene [ep-i-seen] –adjective
2. flaccid; feeble; weak: an epicene style of writing.
http://www.dictionary.com/
Looking at this word, I think of how subjective it is. How many times have you read something that you thought was pretty pitiful, and someone told you how wonderful it was? I happened to really enjoy reading “The Shack”, as did a bunch of other people, and yet I know people who thought it was really epicene. How do you determine if your own writing is strong or weak?
I have come to discover that one of the values of a writer’s critique group is that it can push you to the edge. I am fortunate to be in an “eclectic” group – meaning we have short stories, novels, fairy tales, children’s books, poetry – all kinds of things being turned in and reviewed. It’s great! We push each other to strong, confident writing, whether we like all the genres or not.
I wonder if we could also use epicene to describe ourselves? A flaccid, feeble, weak life. Hmmm, that’s one of the reasons I blog. It helps keep me observant, inquisitive, and opinionated (I have to write something). As much as I hate conflict, I hope my writing (or my life) will never be described as “epicene”.
I begin to love that A-Z challenge more and more … it's simply interesting how similar and at the same time different writer/blogger/people think of the same letter!
Today I asked myself about E for Einzigartigkeit (uniqueness) What makes one particular book (my book) stand out in the masses?
Oh and I was so free, to copy your dictionary-intro! 🙂
Wish you all a wonderful unique day!
Karin @ Nofretiris Dream Of Writing
Epicene sounds dreadful. Like banal or just plain beige. I would really like to wake people up with my writing and I know that one person's Shack is another's Gone With the Wind!
Jan Morrison – come on by for more ABC talk…
I'll try and right a comment that's not epicene. Do I get credit if I use the new words you're teaching me? Hahaha this is so fun Sheila.
cool word. Everywhere I turn lately, I'm reminded to push the envelope and write from a core of strength, not weakness. That's my goal.
Epicene for a great sounding word it has a mighty damning meaning. I enjoyed The Shack – it read like a classic storyteller at work.
I don't believe I've ever heard this word before. Thank you for sharing! I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge and I look forward to reading more from you.
Fellow A to Z'er stopping by. It's interesting that you used The Shack as your example of epicene. Although I loved the message of that book, I felt it had been poorly written. I guess I would call it epicene and didn't even know it! Thanks for the Education.
Wow, that's not an easy word to write about. You did a really great job. I don't want to be epicene in any project.
teakettle58@yahoo.com
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with epicene, but talking about how things are subjective reminded me of watching Fashion Police recently. I'll see an outfit I think is quite nice and then the hosts of the show tell everyone how hideous they think it is. And then when they gasp at how AMAZING a dress is, I look up and think, "Huh? It's like she pulled a feather duster apart and stuck it to her dress. How is that attractive?!"