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
Ep 031: Iceberg Theory
Ep 030 (Mini-Ep): Critique Etiquette
Ep 029: Word-vomit & Zero Drafts
Ep 028 (Mini-Ep): The Dark Side
Ep 027 (Mini-Ep): Surviving the Stress of Querying
Ep 026 (Mini-Ep): Combining & Cutting Characters
Ep 025: Is This a Kissing Book? (Writing Sex Scenes)
Ep 024 (Mini-Ep): AMA
Ep 023: Series & Standalones
Ep 022 (Mini-Ep): Writer’s Block
TRAILER: On Comp Titles
Ep 021: Filler Words
Ep 020: Mini-Ep: Just a Trim--Tips to Cut Word Count
Ep 019: Mini-Ep: X meets Y: Comp Titles
Ep 018: Mini-Ep: Play it Again... Rewrites
Ep 017: Swearing in Fiction
Ep 016: Mini-Ep: Prologues and Epilogues
Ep 015: Mini-Ep: Whoopsie! Our Worst Querying Blunders
Ep 014: Mini-Ep: Morally Grey & Unlikable Characters
Ep 013: ”Dialogue Tags and Action Beats,” he exclaimed!
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