Try This: Make Tech Your Bitch

How Kurt Cobain would be songwriting now

Forget Cut-Ups. Try this to burn your language…

So you’ve written a lackluster story. The plot is solid, but the language is nothing special. It’s great lyrics set to a terrible tune. What to do?

Sure, you can ride the bus and eavesdrop, waiting for just the right voicy slang to coopt. Or, do this:

Write the story from beginning to end. Then, using WORD software, go to the Review tab in the tool bar and translate the entire document from english to French, then from French to Mandarin Chinese, then from that to Greek, then from Greek back to English. Once you’re back to English, read it closely. The translation process will reword phrases according to other languages. They’ll still be understandable, but their meaning will rely more on context. They’ll be more intuitive and less writerly.

Try it. It’s fun, and it will burn your language in ways you’d never invent by yourself

I figure that if artificial intelligence can fake being smart, I can fake being dumb. Fair’s fair.