Words of the wise one

[dduane]

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