Up for a writing challenge?

[proeditor]

I just posted an idea in the Write-Off Announcement section that writing aficionados might be interested in. In case you don't normally go there, I thought I'd point you to it from here (hope that's OK), since people who read this section are really the ones who might like the write-off idea.

It's a challenge to write an entire review in E-Prime (eliminating all "to be" verbs). If you're interested, reply to my write-off post!

It'll tax your brain and your creativity.


» Edited to link to announcement. » t-þoo 1730

[pluckyduck]

Karen -

Need more details about e-prime, please. I thought eprime was the place you bought good meat online.



Andrea
sad to report that ePrime.com lost their second round of funding...apparently selling sides of beef off of the Internet turned out to not be such a good idea

[proeditor]

Hi Plucky,

You've just discovered your opening line for your write-off entry, "When I first heard about the e-prime write off, I thought it was about buying meat over the internet."

E-prime is a method of writing without using the "to be" verbs (can't use "is, was, am, are, be, being" etc.) It is a great exercise in writing more precisely and creatively. For example:
instead of "I thought it was about buying meat over the internet,"
you'd say "I thought it concerned buying meat over the internet." or instead of "This movie was wonderful," you might say "This movie moved me." It really helps with sentence variety.

If you look back at your writing, you might see (as most of us do in our own -- notice the first 2 sentences in my second paragraph) a string of sentences using the verb "is". With a little thought and creativity, you can usually convert those to something with a bit more pizzaz.

In my write-off announcement, I mention my review from April, 2000 entitled, "Liven Up Your Writing, Earn High Ratings and Improve Your IQ," which goes into more detail about e-prime, if you're interested.