From: garbage@crcomp.net   
      
   Jim Hetley  wrote:   
   > On Friday, May 16, 2014 2:57:03 AM UTC-4, William Vetter wrote:   
   >   
   >> >   
   >>   
   >> I wonder if you can begin a sentence with   
   >>   
   >> .32 calibre slugs were recovered.   
   >   
   > Well, I'd reword that as "The coroner recovered .32 caliber slugs . . ."   
      
   Your version certainly makes the facts clearer. And my own first draft   
   would probably sound quite similar.   
      
   OTOH William's version works better when a well known character uses a   
   bureaucratic (vague) voice to foster a feeling such as suspicion in the   
   the reader. The reader becomes suspicious of the other characters in a   
   dialogue because the reader knows that the well known character is   
   holding back and intentionally speaking in a vague voice.   
      
   The bureaucratic voice can also arouse a feeling of tension. Perhaps the   
   well know character uses a noncommittal bureaucratic tone to avoid a   
   prolonged dialogue with an character (a cop) who has the authority to   
   disrupt a tentative plan that was laid out earlier in the story.   
      
   LeCarre uses this technique in _Smiley's People_. A well known character   
   named George uses the bureaucratic voice to move things along during a   
   meeting and avoid the rigmarole.   
      
   In the end, I concur with William's opinion as stated in the "Writers to   
   learn by" thread. John LeCarre's a writer to learn by.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)