I want you to write for pleasureâto play. Just listen to the sounds and rhythms of the sentences you write and play with them, like a kid with a kazoo. This isnât âfree writing,â but itâs similar in that youâre relaxing control: youâre encouraging the words themselvesâthe sounds of them, the beats and echoesâto lead you on. For the moment, forget all the good advice that says good style is invisible, good art conceals art. Show off! Use the whole orchestra our wonderful language offers us! Write it for children, if thatâs the way you can give yourself permission to do it. Write it for your ancestors. Use any narrating voice you like. If youâre familiar with a dialect or accent, use it instead of vanilla English. Be very noisy, or be hushed. Try to reproduce the action in the jerky or flowing movement of the words. Make what happens happen in the sounds of the words, the rhythms of the sentences. Have fun, cut loose, play around, repeat, invent, feel free.
Ursula K. Le Guin, Steering The Craft
