TECH: 101 Tips (35)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 13 July 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Remember that verbs are power words. Adjectives are weaker words that can dress up your work but can also interfere with the smoothness of the writing. Make sure each adverb you use is essential. Ask yourself if you can eliminate the need for the adverb by choosing a different, stronger verb." Bob Mayer

Adverbs? That would be the "ly" words, such as "he wrote smoothly?" It seems to me that part of the trick here is noticing that we often add add adverbs instead of really describing things. If we've set the scene properly, described the characters well, and shown the reader what's going on in this scene -- we don't really need to say, "Joe stomped angrily across the room." The reader knows what Joe was feeling, so all we need to say is, "Joe stomped across the room." The impulse to add that adverb either comes from feeling that we can't quite trust the reader to figure it out or perhaps knowing that we haven't really done the description. Trust the reader. Do go back and doublecheck that you've done the foreshadowing and the description needed to make sure that the reader knows what's happening, then you can use simple verbs.

Nouns and verbs. The meat and potatoes in the writer's meal? Some spices, a little pepper, some garlic, but by and large, nouns and verbs. Although I have to admit, I do like a salad and maybe some dessert, too :-)