Refining your prose: editing session
Universal themes & writing prompts
Looking over the shoulder of a great editor like Tom Bromley is a wonderful way to hone your own literary instincts.
Keep in mind that great writing will be (1) character driven and (2) written in scenes (like a film).
And make universal themes relatable. In the brier patch of civilization that we’re all stuck in for the moment, these are the only general themes that matter:
Family: marriage, racism, grief, abandonment, belonging, etc
The body: physical health, mental health, weight loss, etc
Money: rags to riches, poverty, etc
Military: abuse of power, influence, status, etc
Writing Prompts
Telephone Tag: People who never seem able to get together.
Divine Appointment: People who meet without planning to.
Coming Dread: Write about doing something that needs to be done right away, but nobody wants to do it.
Abandoned Beauty: A place that becomes beautiful because it was abandoned.
Photos by L.A. Marler, lamarler.com
Pre-Writing Questions
“Hemingway “voice” we’ve come to know — the crisp, unadorned prose that made him a literary icon — didn’t come naturally to him. An obsessive revisionist, Hemingway could only produce his “voice” at the end of a long and arduous process.” -Damon DiMarco