Jesse Burkunk

“People call romantic films ‘chick flicks’ as a way to diminish them, which I find unspeakably sad, not just for the way it excludes ‘chicks’ from the realm of ‘serious people,’ but also for the way it excludes ‘serious people’ from the realm of romance and love.

In this chapter I have tried to call your attention to many of the writerly habits that result in soggy prose: metadiscourse, signposting, hedging, apologizing, professional narcissism, clichés, mixed metaphors, metaconcepts, zombie nouns, and unnecessary passives. Writers who want to invigorate their prose could try to memorize that list of don’ts

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“Things that keep talented people from fulfilling their potential:

• Trying to please everyone


• Imitating the desires of others


• Chasing status without questioning why


• Playing superhero and trying to do it all alone


• Dividing attention between too many projects

Make it a point of principle to do things, not because the thing is necessarily the perfect action, but because I choose the life where I do things, over the life where I always wait for the perfect opportunity.

Notice the small problems, and fix them. Notice when everyone isn’t enjoying what they’re doing, and be the first person to voice this. Not... See more