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Today’s writing tip is brought to you by Dora Winifred Read. As in “D.W.”, Arthur Read‘s b̶r̶a̶t̶t̶y̶ spunky kid sister and epic sassypants. 
DWs iconic side-eye.
Girl speaks her mind and doesn’t beat around the bush. Case in point: the infamous, “Francine, can I ask you a question?” moment (+ this one-of-many montages + an entire meme-universe). D.W. keeps it real, keeps it simple and puts things her own way. Unabashedly. It’s why she’s great. Why people love her.
D.W. was my favourite Arthur character, so I ate up this article about Jason Szwimer, a voice actor who played Dora Winifred in the early 2000’s. Currently, he’s on a mission to chat with the other former D.W.’s (turns out there are many) on his podcast, Finding D.W.. I’m up to Episode #3 and it’s fabulous. Behind-the-scenes process snippets (like why boys are consistently cast as the feisty four-year-old girl) and listening to the unique bonds each of the D.W.’s share make it a real treat. And a lovely nod to those meaningful, impactful communications and connections that can be made (and sought out) in the least likely of places.
Back to your tip. A simple reminder:
PARE. IT. BACK.
Take a page from D.W.! You may not be able to pull off her weird bob-with-ear-slits but you can almost certainly tighten up whatever you’re writing right now. Detach from sentimentality and vocab-snobbery and HACK IT UP, YO!
Be a world-class fluff-remover.
Mercilessly scrape away every unnecessary “that”, “maybe” and comma. And don’t shy away from blunt or “rough around the edges” because sometimes – often times – that’s the stuff that sticks.
Chop chop chop. Strip it down.
Go ahead.
Your readers will love it.
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