Thanks Zoot. It was a little stream of conciousness, but I'm in that kind of a mood at the moment, I guess. Thoughtful.

Yes, never, ever bore the reader. I conceptualise in the reader's general direction the scenes and characters that excite me. I think it's like scribbling on the back of a mirror for the world to see, and hopefully, the joy of creation will be reflected.

Ok, I'm deliberately trying to be clever now. I have no idea what 'parallel construction' means. It sounds like a science applied to raising skyscrapers, rather than writing a decent story.

JB

All I can say is if that's your stream of consciousness you're a lucky guy. Not surprised you sailed through school without having to try too hard. (ref to yr deadlines thread there!) Keep em comin.

The way I look at all this is similar to the way I approach music. I've played guitar for over twenty years and taught myself quite a lot of theory - jazz theory mainly. Writing, like Jazz, is essentially a spontaneous act. We might need to go back and tidy things up a bit, but a lot of it is just about getting the words down.
Music analysis is backward looking - rules occur afterwards. Certainly, it is wise to have the basic scales under your belt, and an understanding of harmony, but once you have that, you rely on your ear, your intuition, and your favored technique.
I don’t think Orwell (1984 is one of my favorite books) would have thought much about style when he began writing. I think that would have come much later - perhaps when he was trying to understand what had worked for him. Few of us will ever emulate Orwell, but for those willing to try, his tips may be useful. But his method was probably formulated long after he’d honed his own distinctive vision and voice. Those two factors being the most important ones – and the ones we have to work out for ourselves.
But all this leads to another question. How then do we assess the quality of a writer's work? If there is/was no benchmark then, in theory, every book would win the Booker or one of the other literary awards, and every short story would win the Bridport Prize or similar prizes. Therefore, publishers, editors, judges etc, must look for something that is loosely agreed to represent quality. It surely can't only be a subjective response on their part, can it?

you rely on your ear, your intuition, and your favored technique.

Seems to me if anything on this sprawling thread should stand as a one-line answer to Anj's original question, it's this!

you sailed through school without having to try too hard

Correction. I sailed through English and Drama. I was crap at everything else, to the point of eventually being expelled.

JB