Steering the Craft
I belong to a local writers guild, which over the past few years has grown from a tiny fledgeling group. We met once a month and read stories to five or six fellow writers. Now it has become a dynamic organization with goals and resources. Our very busy and innovative president has us working through Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Steering the Craft” this year. Wow! It’s fun!
Here’s a part of the last exercise we did. The instructions were to write a paragraph that includes at least three repetitions of a noun, verb, or adjective.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, came the noise from across the aisle as the man chewed his Fritos. She tried to ignore him, staring straight ahead as the elevated train squealed going around a bend in the tracks. Crunch, crunch, crunch – it was growing louder as to her horror, the man leaned across the aisle. He stank and his clothes were foul and stained. The smell of him was even stronger than the smell of the corn chips. Crunch, crunch, crunch, Smack! She heard closer still as he reached out and tugged her sleeve. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will him away.
“Excuse me, Miss” he exhaled his foul breath across her, “but can you tell me what stop comes next?”
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