Make it Sharper, Make it Stranger

Simon Han shares an exercise to help make your sentences stronger and more surprising during the revision process.

At some point during the revision process, we may feel the need to mold our sentences so they “fit” the larger vision of our work. This is especially common when we’re working from an outline or if we’re confident in the macro aspects of the story. But focusing only on how the parts fits with the whole can lead to a flattening of our prose and a constraining of our imagination. Here’s an exercise that counteracts that, by prioritizing the sharpness and strangeness of our sentences. The results may feel messy at first, but the key is to play, play, play.

1. Consider your current draft. By memory, write down your favorite strange and specific a) detail about a main character, b) detail about a setting, and c) feeling or idea.

(If everyone’s writing were strange in the same way, then no writing would be strange. The goal here is to identify your strangeness so you can lean into it.)

2. Locate a passage in your work that feels “flat.” The problems with the passage may not be easily diagnosable. Maybe you’ve looked at it and thought, Not bad, but something’s missing. It may just lack energy compared to other passages.

3. Go through this passage word by word, asking yourself where you can incorporate details, feelings, or ideas that are even sharper and stranger than the ones you listed as your favorites. Think of it as a game: You’re trying to “beat” your previous favorites. Rewrite your passage incorporating at least 3-4 of these revisions.

(You can try to relate your additions to your existing plot, characters, etc., but don’t think too hard about this. The priority is beating your previous favorites.)

4. With distance, the strangeness you’ve incorporated will hopefully still feel strange to you when you re-read it. Set the passage aside for at least a day. Go back to it and read the passage out loud. Then edit for clarity and cohesion.

Stay weird and good luck.