Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
By Jean Currie
During World
War II Great Britain was splattered with posters - BE LIKE DAD, KEEP MUM;
WALLS HAVE EARS; IS YOUR JOURNEY REALLY
NECESSARY? and lots more.
I should
like to adapt that last one and ask writers to stick it above their computers:-
ARE YOUR ADVERBS/ADJECTIVES REALLY NECESSARY?
There are adjectives and adjectives, adverbs and adverbs, the useless kind and those that do a good job.
For instance the sky could be bright, menacing, gloomy, stormy, cloudy, threatening and be described in lots of other ways, all of which would add to what we knew about the weather, but take a look at:
She tiptoed
quietly across the thick pile carpet.
Could you tiptoe any other way than softly across that carpet? I don't
think so. Softly doesn't tell us anything more than we already know, so
it should go.
He quickly
left the house.
Why couldn't he hurry, race, rush, scamper?
The silent
stillness was broken by the loud barking of a distant dog.
Is stillness ever anything but silent? Do you know a dog that barks quietly?
She stood
on the cliff top and watched the waves lapping the rocks below.
Can you imagine the water lapping rocks above her?
He whispered
words of love softly into her tiny ears.
He isn't likely to whisper loudly, is he? And where else was he likely
to whisper but into her tiny ears? More words that could be cut if you
are trying to shorten a story.
I'm not advocating banning all adjectives and adverbs, only suggesting that you should be selective. Choose those that work for you, that add colour to your writing and abandon the rest.
'Let
me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights;
Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.'
Shakespeare knew how to choose his words. Is your writing better than his?
If you want
to reduce your wordcount and/or tighten your language, stick that poster
on your wall, look at every adjective and adverb and ask yourself if it's
redundant.
If in doubt, leave it out.
