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100 Sentences

Writing short is about as easy for me as pole vaulting over the Grand Canyon. My usual style contains long, long, long sentences and overlong comparisons. I know. I'm working on it!


But writing and placing a recent 100-word flash piece started me thinking about an exercise I haven't used in a while, one that, while it might not help me with brevity, can be quite helpful when a character or a setting or a plot point feels highway-across-Kansas flat.


With whatever element isn't working, write 100 sentences about it. For example:


  • Jake drinks his coffee black, but only because it sounds cool.

  • Jake runs every morning, even when it’s pouring, and secretly enjoys how dramatic it feels.

  • Jake has a scar above his eyebrow from that time he thought skateboarding down a hill was a good idea.


Another example:


  • Short Pines has one post office, and the lady who runs it is mysteriously never there.

  • The town library still smells like chalk from its days as an old schoolhouse.

  • Main Street floods every spring, but the town council has yet to fix the storm drains because they’re too busy arguing about whether or not to allow chickens in backyards.


So, yes, you might just be making stuff up around a half to three-quarters of the way through. That's not a problem — it's necessary.


If you're writing fiction, 100 sentences make you dig for new details. If you're writing nonfiction, it can inspire areas of research that hadn't yet occurred. Maybe Jake carries a lucky baby spoon, or Short Pines has six convenience stores but no grocery store. Or it has only tall pines. Or no pines at all.


The benefit of the exercise gets you both out of your head and into it. Try it, and write me 100 words about your experience!




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