100 words

Often my students complain that they cannot possibly write enough to meet my expectations. The mere idea of composing 500, or even worse (gasp!) 1,000 words is more than their little brains can comprehend.

I seem to have the opposite problem. I tend to go on and on (just ask my husband). Frequently I find I've used three words where one would do, or I've repeated myself unintentionally (a hazard of my profession), or I've used a few too many adjectives or adverbs. You get the point. But sometimes limits can foster creativity. The following exercise is for those of you like me, who find yourself in love with words and who sometimes overdo it.

Construct a paragraph--any kind of paragraph, descriptive, narrative, expository--but use only 100 words. No more, no less. Go.

posted by lit lover at 5:56 PM