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{{trope}}
This is when an author writes in an atypical pattern. The reasons for this can vary, from [[Leaning
Remember this applies to any challenge imposed on the author by themselves, so normal deadlines and schedules don't count, however improvising with limited resources or using a particularly strict time limit does.
The alternative name "[[Oulipo]]" is from a group of [
Some authors might adopt this as a [[Signature Style]]. [[Unconventional Formatting]] can be related. When this is used within an otherwise normal piece of writing to show something specific then it is [[Painting the Fourth Wall]].
----
{{examples
== Web Comics ==
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': ▼
** When Homer becomes a food critic, he writes a review without using the letter E. That's because the E key on his typewriter is broken.▼
** Mr Burns tells Lenny that he will be fired unless he is able to explain why he shouldn't be without using the letter E.▼
'''Lenny''' ''[falling]'': '''EEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!''' }}▼
== Real Life ==
* ''[[A Void]]'' (and ''[[La Disparition]]'', the French novel it's a translation of) was written without using the letter E.
* ''[[Gadsby]]: A Story of Over 50000 Words Without Using the Letter "E"'' by Ernest Vincent Wright.
* Mike Keith has rewritten [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''The Raven'' with the limitation that {{spoiler|words must have the same number of letters as the corresponding digit of pi}}. Read it full here: http://www.cadaeic.net/naraven.htm
* ''Le Train De Nulle Part'' is a French novel with no verbs.
* In her first ''[[Thieves' World]]'' short story, "The Secret of the Blue Star", [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] carefully tried to {{spoiler|avoid referring to the gender of the magician Lythande to conceal the [[Twist Ending]] that [[Samus Is a Girl|Lythande is a woman]].}} She did slip up at one point, however.
{{quote|
* [[David Langford]]'s "[http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/drabbles.html A Surprisingly Common Omission]" is a drabble written without using the letter E.
* [[Harlan Ellison]] once sat in a department store window for five hours, with the challenge being that he write a 500+ page novel in that time-frame. And pulled it off. In addition, he's written several short stories in this manner, with other people providing written prompts just before he starts.
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** Similarly, [[Script Frenzy]] is a challenge to write 100 pages of script.
** On the other end of the spectrum, there's flash fiction, short stories under a certain length, and "drabbles", stories exactly 100 words long.
* [[Dr. Seuss]] wrote ''[[The Cat in
** Speaking of [[Dr. Seuss]], reportedly ''[[Green Eggs and Ham]]'' was a challenge to create an interesting children's story using no more than 50 different words.
* [[Isaac Asimov]] wrote [
* [[Jim Butcher]] wrote the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' on a bet that he could write a story using what he thought were two terrible ideas: The [[Lost Roman Legion]] and ''[[
▲* [[Jim Butcher]] wrote the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' on a bet that he could write a story using what he thought were two terrible ideas: The [[Lost Roman Legion]] and ''[[Pokémon (Franchise)|Pokémon]]''.
* [[Poul Anderson]] wrote the essay "Uncleftish Beholding" in which he described basic atomic theory and the periodic table in a manner as if English had never adopted any French, Latin, or Greek vocabulary but instead only used its Germanic roots:
{{quote|
* ''[
▲* ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'' has [http://xkcd.com/1045/ a comic] about this.
▲* ''[[The Simpsons]]'':
▲** When Homer becomes a food critic, he writes a review without using the letter E. That's because the E key on his typewriter is broken.
▲** Mr Burns tells Lenny that he will be fired unless he is able to explain why he shouldn't be without using the letter E.
▲{{quote| '''Lenny''': Uh, I'm a... good... work... guy... <br />
▲'''Burns''': You're fired. <br />
▲'''Lenny''': But I didn't say... <br />
▲'''Burns''': You will. ''[pushes trapdoor button]'' <br />
▲'''Lenny''' ''[falling]'': '''EEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!''' }}
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Meta Concepts]]
[[Category:Constrained Writing]]
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