A decade or better ago, I was in a local Toastmasters chapter. After an introduction, someone presented the word of the day. Everyone who was either called on for table topics (impromptu, one-minute speeches) or scheduled to make a speech was challenged to say that word in their speech.
Toastmasters meetings also had a grammarian. After everyone spoke, they would point out certain phrases that stood out, facial expressions, and tones of voice.
During my writing hiatus, I'm reading books. A few weeks ago, I read Year of the Monkey, by Patti Smith, and am now re-reading it. It comprises reflections of Patti's life the year before she turned 70, which was in 2016, the Year of the Monkey. So far, I've read only two of her books, the other M Train. What I've found fascinating and captivating is her stream of consciousness and her way with words.
Here are a few of them...
"a moment of sorrow's vertigo"
"Havoc, an uppercase game with a lowercase deity"
"anesthetizing scent"
"the coma's thick veil"
"artificial silence of hospital settings"
"a redundant train of errant vowels ended an unfinished sentence"
"projecting constellations of words onto his white sheets"
"each blank page, offering escape, the pen serving, fluid and constant"
"a talisman on a necklace of continuous travels"
I plan to return to my full schedule of writing sometime next month. I now challenge myself to use phrases equally as eloquent in my novels in progress.
