Feb 26 2009
Using the Alphabet
If you like writing exercises, NOTHING is tougher than this one. Using a paragraph at most, but preferably a sentence, write a meaningful passage utilizing all 26 letters of the alphabet at the beginning of one’s words. Whether poetry or prose, it doesn’t matter.
For instance:
Eleven zoo inhabitants grazed within yards of strange unidentified flying crafts. The result? Behaviors, high development levels, new movement. Animals played xylophones, kicked, jumped quickly.
I went a bit extreme, allowing only one word per letter. But the result can’t be too meaningful (not with only 26 words in total). Instead, set up a scene, but then try, as you write, to include words beginning with all 26 letters. It’s okay if some are doubled, but all 26 have to be used by the end of the selection.
Can you do it? Was it easy? Perhaps you have the ideal analytical brain. If nothing else, the exercise encourages you to think of synonyms (what word means something similar, but starts with a “K”?) and become more aware of what words our language relies upon (articles like “a” and “the,” or connectors like “of” and “so” and “and”). You may even find out what your tendencies are towards repetition.
If you don’t like the alphabet, try writing a short passage without repeating a single word. Tougher than you might think, even in poetry.
I recognize the challenge, but don’t find this one as much fun. I’ll work on trying to get at least one of these done tonight, but it’s harder with such constraints, to write something meaningful.
“”I don’t understand, Mommy,” Cora said, knuckling away a tear. “Why do they hate me?”
“Nothing more than xenophobia, little one. People just revile whatever is foreign or queer. Everyone should know better. It’s very hard for you.” Mommy wiped another tear and kissed a forehead not ready for such tragic complex truths. “Let’s go to the zoo!”
Whew!
Slowly, with care, she opened her eyelids, but was blinded by the light. Linette didn’t know what to expect, after so long lost in dreams. Could this be a recognizeable world?
“Darling.”
He is here. At that moment, it all became wonderful again.
Alright, one of each. Wasn’t sure how long it had to be to be a “passage.”
I didn’t say it was that much fun… but it’s a challenge. I actually wrote one using all the letters IN ORDER once, but with all the stuff going on right now, I simply don’t have the brain power left to do it again.
Meaning isn’t the biggie with this one… it’s emphasis is more on language, on vocabulary, but with so few X and Z words, creating something that works smoothly isn’t easy, or likely…