A polite phrase, unfolded
Grow a sentence · 20 minutes · Published
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He now lived, for the most part, retired in the country, with one sister, for whom he had a very tender affection. This lady was now somewhat past the age of thirty, an aera at which, in the opinion of the malicious, the title of old maid may with no impropriety be assumed. She was of that species of women whom you commend rather for good qualities than beauty, and who are generally called, by their own sex, very good sort of women--as good a sort of woman, madam, as you would wish to know. Indeed, she was so far from regretting want of beauty, that she never mentioned that perfection, if it can be called one, without contempt; and would often thank God she was not as handsome as Miss Such-a-one, whom perhaps beauty had led into errors which she might have otherwise avoided.
Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749). Project Gutenberg #6593
The prompt
Begin with a phrase people use to be polite about someone, a very good sort of woman, a safe pair of hands, quite a character, and unfold it the way an essayist unfolds a maxim: what it says, what it is really for, the opposite it hides, an example in the person's own words, and a verdict. Address the reader directly at least once, as if they knew the person too. The portrait grows from the phrase and never leaves it.
Set a timer for 20 minutes.
Short version · 10 minutes
In ten minutes, take one polite phrase and give its meaning, its hidden opposite, and one example in the person's own mouth.
The move
Grow a sentence. Start from a sentence, a maxim, a question, a fact, and develop it step by step: cause, contrary, example, scene.
Tags: argument and structure.
In a group
A way to run it with a writing group:
The weekly table. A regular session where each brings the week's text. The group discusses only what is on the page.
Where the page goes next
Scrin is a home where pages grow into books: you keep writing, from an untitled line to a chapter, and Scrin keeps the rest.