Don't worry about how pretty (the story) sounds, how lilting it is, and the imagery, and the metaphor, all that. Most readers don't care. It's the people in your book that matter.
Terry McMillanSometimes I cheat and buy things I used to make from scratch and just doctor them up.
Terry McMillanI have a big mouth, and over the years, as the eldest of five, I have had a tendency to speak when no one really cared.
Terry McMillan