Words of the wise one

[dianeduane]

And nothing to do with the Havamal, either.

Never open a book with weather.

And so much more. My favorite part:

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated," and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . .

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs."

Heh heh.

(Yeah, I slip and do it sometimes. But not very often at all, as this particular lesson was burned into my brain after reading the version of it that James Blish points-and-laughs at in one of his books of SF criticism written as "William Atheling": "'Good morning,' he pole-vaulted.")

Tags: adverbs, they should know their place, Elmore Leonard, James Blish, said-booking

Comments

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

I quit reading books by one author (who shall remain nameless, and is definitely not the owner of this blog) because her main character "wailed" every line she said. This became irritating very quickly, especially when written in first person.