Letters of Note has a wonderful letter from C.S. Lewis with good advice on writing:
What really matters is:–
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
4. In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, "Please will you do my job for me."
5. Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Wonderful post, I'm reblogging it :)
ReplyDelete- Raum
C.S. Lewis is doing the Writing Lab!
DeleteWow, CS is one of my favorites, ever. I read Far from the silent plantet and Perelandra (??, I don't know the titles in English) when I was a teenager. I am afraid I am a little guilty about the use of adjectives. However if, say, Edward is enjoying Bella's delightful caresses, what adjective should I have used instead'
ReplyDeleteThe English language is wonderful for its infinite variety of adjectives and adverbs (though there are some people who detest the latter and would say that using them often is a sign of poor writing in of itself.)
DeleteYou could say her sweet/hot/gentle/shy/bold caresses that burned in his blood, drove him to the brink of madness, etc. He's arguing in favor of the specific, rather than the general. After all, most people would rather have a descriptive scene than a terse, "They had hot sex." You wand the reader to draw the conclusion that it was hot, instead of telling them that's how they should feel.