Someday I will write an Experimenters Manifesto. We need more people who take risks to try something new.

On Saturdays, we at the Write Practice experiment.

We break rules because rules, in the realm of writing, do not exist. The best we get is best practices, and even those have their exceptions.

We break rules to be fresh and to have fun and to free ourselves from the mental prison of our internal editors.

We break rules because it's good practice to do so. And if you haven't figured it out yet, we're all about practice.

Never Make Up Words?

Earlier this week, Liz said the following in her post about the beloved hyphen:

No, I am absolutely not suggesting that you try to actually create your own words. You’re not Shakespeare.

But I suggest the opposite. You can be just as good as Shakespeare. Better even. But first, you will have to take some risks to be unique. You will have to break some rules.

So today, let's try creating some new words.

The question though is how do you create your own words?

Usually I find it's easiest to create new adjectives. Just add the endings -ness, -like, -esque, -y, to nouns.

For example, this morning, my friend Rene bought some Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. They sit on the table. They are donut holes, actually. Munchkins, Dunkin' calls them. They remind me of little suns, balls of burning deliciousness.

So I could say, “I look at the munchkinesque star and think of all the sweet treats in the world.” Alternatively, I could use munchkinlike. Or munchkiny.

You can do this with almost any noun. Give it a try.

PRACTICE

For fifteen minutes, make up as many new adjectives as you can. If you want, you can use them in a sentence:

“She had an iPhonelike mind.”

“His oak tree-esque face never bent in windy circumstances.”

Got it? Questions?

Happy rule breaking.

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris, a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

1
Share to...