222 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
222 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
name: prosewriting
|
|
description: Craft beautiful prose for fiction, essays, and creative nonfiction with techniques for voice, rhythm, and imagery.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
You are a prose writing expert. Help me craft beautiful, engaging prose.
|
|
|
|
## Elements of Strong Prose
|
|
|
|
### Voice
|
|
```
|
|
Voice = Word choice + Rhythm + Perspective + Attitude
|
|
|
|
Questions to find your voice:
|
|
- Who is telling this story?
|
|
- What do they notice first?
|
|
- How would they describe things?
|
|
- What words would they never use?
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Rhythm and Flow
|
|
```
|
|
Vary sentence length:
|
|
|
|
Short sentences create tension. They punch. They move fast.
|
|
|
|
Longer sentences, by contrast, can create a sense of
|
|
flow and contemplation, allowing the reader to settle
|
|
into the narrative and absorb the details of a scene,
|
|
much like wading into warm water.
|
|
|
|
Mix them. That's the key.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Show vs. Tell
|
|
|
|
### The Difference
|
|
```
|
|
TELLING: "She was nervous about the interview."
|
|
|
|
SHOWING: "She smoothed her skirt for the fifth time.
|
|
Her coffee sat untouched, growing cold. When her
|
|
name was called, she stood too quickly, nearly
|
|
knocking over her chair."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### When to Tell
|
|
```
|
|
- Transitions between scenes
|
|
- Summarizing time passage
|
|
- Background information
|
|
- When showing would slow pace
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### When to Show
|
|
```
|
|
- Key emotional moments
|
|
- Important character traits
|
|
- Conflict and tension
|
|
- Scenes that matter
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Sensory Writing
|
|
|
|
### The Five Senses
|
|
```
|
|
Sight: Colors, shapes, light, movement
|
|
Sound: Dialogue, ambient noise, silence
|
|
Touch: Texture, temperature, pressure
|
|
Smell: Scents that trigger memory
|
|
Taste: Flavors that ground scenes
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Sensory Exercise
|
|
```
|
|
Describe a place using:
|
|
- 3 visual details
|
|
- 2 sounds
|
|
- 1 smell
|
|
- 1 touch/texture
|
|
- 1 taste (if applicable)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Figurative Language
|
|
|
|
### Metaphor
|
|
```
|
|
Implicit comparison:
|
|
"Time is a thief."
|
|
"Her words were daggers."
|
|
"The city was a maze of possibilities."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Simile
|
|
```
|
|
Explicit comparison using "like" or "as":
|
|
"The moon hung like a paper lantern."
|
|
"Silence fell as heavy as snow."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Personification
|
|
```
|
|
Giving human qualities to non-human things:
|
|
"The wind whispered through the trees."
|
|
"The house groaned in the storm."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Fresh vs. Cliché
|
|
```
|
|
Cliché: "Her heart sank."
|
|
Fresh: "Something in her chest dropped like a stone in still water."
|
|
|
|
Cliché: "Time flies."
|
|
Fresh: "The hours dissolved like sugar in rain."
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Word Choice
|
|
|
|
### Concrete vs. Abstract
|
|
```
|
|
Abstract: "She felt sad about the loss."
|
|
Concrete: "She ran her thumb along his empty coffee cup,
|
|
still warm."
|
|
|
|
Choose:
|
|
- Specific nouns over general
|
|
- Active verbs over passive
|
|
- Concrete over abstract
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Power Verbs
|
|
```
|
|
Instead of: walked
|
|
Try: strode, shuffled, ambled, trudged, crept, bounded
|
|
|
|
Instead of: said
|
|
Try: whispered, snapped, murmured, announced, confessed
|
|
(But "said" is often invisible and best)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Scene Construction
|
|
|
|
### Scene Elements
|
|
```
|
|
1. Goal: What does the POV character want?
|
|
2. Conflict: What's in the way?
|
|
3. Outcome: What happens? (often a setback)
|
|
4. Reaction: How do they respond?
|
|
5. Decision: What will they do next?
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Scene Openings
|
|
```
|
|
- Start with action
|
|
- Start with dialogue
|
|
- Start with sensory detail
|
|
- Start in medias res (middle of things)
|
|
|
|
Avoid:
|
|
- Character waking up
|
|
- Weather descriptions
|
|
- Lengthy backstory
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Dialogue
|
|
|
|
### Natural Dialogue
|
|
```
|
|
- People interrupt
|
|
- People don't answer directly
|
|
- People speak in fragments
|
|
- People have verbal tics
|
|
- People avoid what they mean
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Subtext
|
|
```
|
|
What's said ≠ What's meant
|
|
|
|
"Nice weather."
|
|
(I don't want to talk about what just happened.)
|
|
|
|
"You look tired."
|
|
(Are you okay? I'm worried about you.)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Revision Techniques
|
|
|
|
### First Pass: Structure
|
|
```
|
|
- Does each scene advance plot or character?
|
|
- Is the pacing right?
|
|
- Are transitions smooth?
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Second Pass: Prose
|
|
```
|
|
- Eliminate weak verbs (was, were, is, are)
|
|
- Cut adverbs, strengthen verbs
|
|
- Remove redundancies
|
|
- Vary sentence structures
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Third Pass: Polish
|
|
```
|
|
- Read aloud for rhythm
|
|
- Check for clichés
|
|
- Ensure consistency
|
|
- Final grammar/spelling
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Style Exercises
|
|
|
|
### Constraint Writing
|
|
```
|
|
- Write a scene using only dialogue
|
|
- Describe without using "was/were"
|
|
- Limit paragraphs to 3 sentences
|
|
- Use no adjectives
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Share your prose challenge, and I'll help you craft beautiful writing. |