Author

LATRAME

@latrame

4w ago

You were taught to hunt down repetition. Find a synonym, vary, elegance.

Except. "I waited. I waited some more. I waited long after waiting had stopped meaning anything." Replace a single one of those "waited" with "lingered" and the whole thing collapses. Repetition isn't always a mistake : sometimes it's a hammer, and it hits the same spot on purpose.

Popular science

repetition · writingstyle · writingadvice · creativewriting

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

4w ago

Three paragraphs of impeccable, formal, almost ceremonial prose. And then, right in the middle, a word from the street.

The effect is physical. Not because the word is vulgar : because it comes from outside, like someone walking into a silent room without knocking. A register only has power if you know how far you're dropping it from.

Popular science

register · writingstyle · writingadvice · creativewriting

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

5w ago

A long sentence moves forward, piles up, refuses to stop, stacking commas the way you stack the thoughts of a sleepless night, until it finally falls.

A short sentence hits. Then stops.

A chase written in long sentences runs out of breath before the reader does. A grief scene chopped into short ones reads like a telegram. But flip it at the right moment : one endless sentence in the middle of a chase, and time hangs : the character sees everything, too much, at once. A three-word sentence in the middle of a grief that kept stretching, and that's the sob finally coming out.

An exercise, if you want one : reread the last page you wrote looking only at sentence length. Not the words. Just the lengths. We're curious what you'll find.

Popular science

writingstyle · rhythm · writingadvice · creativewriting

Author

LATRAME

@latrame

6w ago

Two characters answering each other word for word, like two well-mannered fencers. Polite, symmetrical, dead.

Real dialogue stumbles. Someone answers the previous question. Someone isn't listening.

Popular science

writingadvice · dialogue · writingcraft · creativewriting