Question

What is meant by swooper versus basher style of writing?

Answer 1

In swooper writing style, while writing one doesn't go for perfection straightaway. As much content as possible is written down. Later on the written draft is revisited again so as to arrange/rearrange, remove or add sentences, edit, punctuate, format etc.

 

In basher writing style, the writer goes sentence by sentence, part by part polishing everything along the way. Each word, phrase, sentence, part and developing theme is fine tuned along the way to the satisfaction.

In the words of the one who originally coined the terms, Kurt Vonnegut"Swoopers write a story quickly, higgledy-piggledy, crinkum-crankum, any which way. Then they go over it again painstakingly, fixing everything that is just plain awful or doesn’t work. Bashers go one sentence at a time, getting it exactly right before they go on to the next one. When they’re done they’re done."

 

In swooper writing style a lot of content is written down before it is revisted so as to fine tune it and give it final shape. In basher style fine tuning is done sentence by sentence so as to get it right as one goes along.