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The Spoken Word

This is an excerpt from a work in progress- previous excerpts can be found here, here, and here. If you like what you’ve read, please share. If you have any feedback, I’d be happy to hear it!

This week I counted twenty six point three books. Six fantasy novels, four biographies, four detective novels  three romance novels, two mathematics textbooks, two children’s books, one erotic fiction, one car manual, one self help book, a western and thirty percent of a German language horror novel. 

Ich habe keine Angst. 

I have eaten seven lasagnes and conversed with four people. The postman. Enzo. Patrick and the man who bought the one hundred and three thousand, three hundred and twenty-six word fantasy novel. 

Patrick says I must try to speak to more people, but these are the only people I saw. I asked him if the amount of words I am saying is the most important, or the number of people I say them to. He told me that I should try to do more of both.

This week, I said four hundred and six words. 

Next week I will say more. 

I am not scared.

If the man who bought the one hundred and three thousand, three hundred and twenty-six word fantasy novel comes back, I will ask him if he enjoyed the one hundred and three thousand, three hundred and twenty-six word novel. If he did, I can suggest some similar sized books. I have a book on American presidents which is one hundred and three thousand, three hundred and thirty-four words he could enjoy if he is willing to spend an extra three seconds reading it. 

I will probably avoid talking to people I have not ever spoken to. I think it would be better for me to improve the word count on conversations with people that I already know. 

This week I said four hundred and six words. Three hundred and twenty-four to Patrick. Thirty-five to Enzo. Twenty-eight to the postman. And nineteen to the man who bought the one hundred and two thousand, three hundred and twenty-six word fantasy novel. Next week I will say more. 

At the moment I can read faster than I can speak. Patrick says that I need to speak more, but I cannot speak with people who I do not see. 

Tomorrow I will try and speak with the postman. I will ask him how many letters he posts and if he counts the addresses. 

Patrick says it is good to take an interest in other people. 

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