Words and phrases

Often when I’m writing, I try and find words that are clear and that express what I’m trying to say elegantly.  I don’t always succeed and sometimes, years later, I realise there was a better word, I just didn’t think of it at the right time.  Does that happen to you?  You think of the right word or the right thing to say, but it’s way too late to say it?

I want you to imagine you’re in the middle of an argument with someone important to you.  Write down all the things you say, and all the things the other person says.  Use lines of dialogue with very little description or action around them – think of this more like a play than a story.  Then go through the dialogue you’ve written and take three of the things YOU’VE SAID.  Can you change them?  Can you make those words even better?  Can you reword it so you say what you want to say?  This is the moment to take the opportunity to SAY IT RIGHT!

They say all writing is rewriting.  I’ve been thinking about that recently and so this exercise seemed like a good one for today.  Get rewriting.  Say it how you wish you could.