I finished up my GOLDEN GATEWAY entries. The ones I read this year are the best packet of entries I've EVER judged. Wow! I pity the competition in Single Title.
I was supposed to judge the WHERE THE MAGIC BEGINS, but I just can't bring myself to sign up to judge again. Whoops, maybe I've missed the signup date. If so, that's kinda lets me off the hook. But now I feel guilty for missing the sign-up date. Oh, the guilt.
Okay, I'm over it.
Well, I guess I'll go read some blogs.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
ANOTHER ROUND OF CHOCOLATE, PLEASE
Here's an old article from my column over at Romance Divas....
If one bar of chocolate is good, then two is better. Right?
Let’s face it, if something is good, then we want more and more and then some more. Since we’re romance writers, we could replace the chocolate with sex. Did I just hear a round of cheers from all the darling husbands out there?
We all want to have the best, most awesome, frightfully brilliant—not to mention damn good—writing. And since we live in the “more is better” society, we tend to use two words to say what one can. (Not me, I’m tighter than Velcro.)
But why write walked seductively or said softly when you can write slinked or vamped and whispered or murmured? Adverbs are writing spiders. They sneak up on us, and soon our pace is trapped in a web of wordiness.
Is your heroine ravishingly stunning?
Did your hero hurry quickly to the outhouse?
Why allow your car to break down in Redundancyville? High-octane words, please, and fill the tank quickly. Well, just fill the tank. Besides -ly words, we are often guilty of adding modifiers/amplifiers, like very, extremely, and quite.
Suzy was very beautiful.
Joe was quite handsome.
What do very and quite add to the visual image the reader receives? Concrete details paint the picture.
Suzy had a Julia Roberts smile. (Yes, a little cliched there, but you know the smile. So does Mona Lisa.)
I'm not saying never use adverbs. Sometimes they fit.
Into the earthy bed, Joe gently laid the puppy. Slowly, diligently, lovingly, he covered the body with a blanket of dirt. His children wept. He wept. The sun would come up tomorrow, but, right now, this was the worst day of his life.
Let the words you chose—adverbs or not—convey a mood, impart emotion in your characters and your readers. And remember that when you limit your use of adverbs, when you do use one, its impact is greater.
Personally, I’ve decided to take Mark Twain’s advice.
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you're inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
Now could someone hand me another Mr. DamnGoodbar? And since you’re up, could you spray a round of Raid, too? Ouch, I think that spider just bit me.
Hey, leave me alone…stop that…I’m not a fly…I won’t taste goooo--
If one bar of chocolate is good, then two is better. Right?
Let’s face it, if something is good, then we want more and more and then some more. Since we’re romance writers, we could replace the chocolate with sex. Did I just hear a round of cheers from all the darling husbands out there?
We all want to have the best, most awesome, frightfully brilliant—not to mention damn good—writing. And since we live in the “more is better” society, we tend to use two words to say what one can. (Not me, I’m tighter than Velcro.)
But why write walked seductively or said softly when you can write slinked or vamped and whispered or murmured? Adverbs are writing spiders. They sneak up on us, and soon our pace is trapped in a web of wordiness.
Is your heroine ravishingly stunning?
Did your hero hurry quickly to the outhouse?
Why allow your car to break down in Redundancyville? High-octane words, please, and fill the tank quickly. Well, just fill the tank. Besides -ly words, we are often guilty of adding modifiers/amplifiers, like very, extremely, and quite.
Suzy was very beautiful.
Joe was quite handsome.
What do very and quite add to the visual image the reader receives? Concrete details paint the picture.
Suzy had a Julia Roberts smile. (Yes, a little cliched there, but you know the smile. So does Mona Lisa.)
I'm not saying never use adverbs. Sometimes they fit.
Into the earthy bed, Joe gently laid the puppy. Slowly, diligently, lovingly, he covered the body with a blanket of dirt. His children wept. He wept. The sun would come up tomorrow, but, right now, this was the worst day of his life.
Let the words you chose—adverbs or not—convey a mood, impart emotion in your characters and your readers. And remember that when you limit your use of adverbs, when you do use one, its impact is greater.
Personally, I’ve decided to take Mark Twain’s advice.
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you're inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
Now could someone hand me another Mr. DamnGoodbar? And since you’re up, could you spray a round of Raid, too? Ouch, I think that spider just bit me.
Hey, leave me alone…stop that…I’m not a fly…I won’t taste goooo--
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)