It's aliiiive! In this episode, we discuss how to bring your stale, lifeless writing back from the dead by swapping out the verb "was" for more varied phrasing, and embellish this week's writing snippet with silliness.
----more----Books mentioned in this episode:
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
----more----
Drink Recipe:
The Zombie (recipe by Dale Degroff)
----more----
Excerpts:
Before:
He was younger than I thought he’d be, though I couldn’t pinpoint an exact age. Somewhere between around thirty was my best guess. His expression was guarded, and there was a twist to his lip that suggested a joke that only he understood. Not one thread of his clothing was out of place. In the dim restaurant ambience, it was difficult to tell what color his hair was. Dark, though whether it was brown or black I couldn’t say. The one thing that was impossible to ignore was an eerie quality I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Word Count : 93
Wases: 10
After:
He was younger than I thought he’d be, though I couldn’t pinpoint an exact age. Somewhere around thirty, maybe. A guarded expression, and a twist of his lip implied a cruel joke only he understood. Not one thread of his clothing was out of place, he wore a monogrammed heirloom watch, a class ring from Grand Dick High School--this guy was the whole enchilada. In the dim restaurant, the color of his hair was vague. Dark, but brown or black I couldn’t say. His lack of eyebrows was entirely off-putting, but his unwavering stare was even moreso.
He shook my hand, smiled with all his teeth, and said, "Eating too much cake is the sin of gluttony, but you can eat as much pie as you want. the Sin of pie is zero. Hi, my name is David.”
Word Count : 139
Wases: 6
Ep130: The Miscommunication Trope
Ep129: Fiona Fenn on Fanfiction
Ep128: Writing Love Triangles and Other Polygons
Ep127: Jenny Adams on Pivoting Genres
Ep126: T.L. Simpson, author of Strong Like You
Ep125: Jaq Evans on Juggling Projects
Ep124: Self-publishing While Parenting, with Brigitta Estelle Burguess!
Ep123 (Mini-Ep): Getting Motivated
Ep122 (Mini-Ep): Navigating Reader Interactions
Ep121(Mini-Ep): Connecting the Dots of Subplots
Ep120 (Mini-Ep): Insecurities and Professional Jealousy
Ep119: The Journey to The Longest Autumn
Ep118: Multiple Timelines and Flashbacks
Ep117: Updates for 2024, plus Purple Prose Revisited!
Ep116: Brief Status Update and December Hiatus
Ep115 (Mini-Ep): Beefing Up Side Characters
Ep114: The Core of Your Story
Ep113 (Mini-Ep) The Murky Middle
Ep112 (Mini-Ep): Epigraphs
Ep111 (Mini-Ep): Whose POV?
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