Monday, February 24, 2014

Tips In The Midst Of Snow

Working with a writer friend, I happened to discover I have some tips tucked inside my brain. I thought I'd share them with you. Some you've already seen, but these ones appear more succinct.

1)  Tools. My thesaurus. Most times, I find the word I need when I use my thesaurus. Of late, I've noticed, the word might not be there. But no concern needed. If I go to the dictionary, something in the definition will have the right word. So there. Two wondrous tools to find the perfect word. And we all know writing is about the perfect word. I use the on-line programs instead of books by my side. If you go to the site listed below, you can click on the top and surf between dictionary and thesaurus. You don't have to type the word over and over. Anything to save time in this insane world. Too busy.  http://thesaurus.com/

2)  Adverbs. You know I really truly try to stay away completely from the use of adverbs. I just had to do that. It is such fun to use adverbs. I have said before, it is easy to fall into the adverb trap. Adverbs are great for once in a thousand years. However, adjectives are so much better. They are stronger and more meaningful.  

I came up with a motto:  Using an adverb is a lost opportunity for an exquisite sentence. It is like eating chocolate when you could have had a chocolate brownie sundae with chocolate syrup and whipped cream and a cherry on top. Chocolates always good but why not have the entire enchilada. 

3) Strong verbs. These are the meat of writing. I discovered that I can sometimes find a strong verb in my sentence if I look at the adjective that is in it. I can change the adjective into a verb and voila - there is a strong verb that makes the sentence just shimmer. How about: I climbed the rambling stairs. Change it to:  I rambled up the stairs. More fun. Different. If I get stuck and need a strong verb, I look to the sentence and see if I've hidden one in my adjectives.

Got to get the little one. Have a blessed day.

Life is good.  



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