Tuesday's Writer's Tip - More Modifiers - Adverbs #MFRWauthor #BWLPublishing #Adverbs #Writing

Last week, we looked at adjectives and learned strings of them didn't do the trick. Adverbs have their uses but they can be used to death. I remember judging contests for beginning writers and remembering what I'd done when I began writing. That was using adverbs in dialogue tags.

She said angrily. He said happily. You know the trick instead of doing something like "Get lost,"she said angrily, I learned to her hands fisted. "Get lost." Gives the same meaning but the second version packs a punch and also gives a view of the character.

Adverbs generally end with ly. So that's something to look at while you're in revision mode.There are other adverbs we tend to use. Very is one. She was very sad. Not to mention passive voice, that sentence doesn't give a picture of the character. There are times when I do use this and sometimes repeat the word, especially in dialogue. "I am very, very mad." In a story this was a child speaking. An adult might have said I'm furious. Other adverbs that can creep into a story are ones like almsot, frequently. Just be on the look out for adverby while you're writing.

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Tuesday's Inspiration triggered by Bill Pronzini

This quote from an essay by Bill Pronzini made me think.  "Mastery of the art of dialogue truly can make the difference between sales and rejection slips."

Can it really be this easy? I do read a lot and there are stories I put aside because the dialogue doesn't seem to fit the characters or the story. A long time ago, someone advised me to read my dialogue aloud. Not just aloud but to just read the words the characters said. To do this, in my early days of writing. I typed out just the words they said like I was writing a play. Mary: then her words. Bill: then his words. Suddenly I began to realize things like the characters sounded the same. So I thought about the characters and listened for their voices. This kind of work really helped. There are times when I fall into old patterns here and then I have to go back and read the dialogue like I'm writing a play.

Another thing I did in the beginning was to use taglines that I thought showed how wonderful I was. No one said or asked. They responded, sneered, and once smiled the words. I had a vast list of the ways people spoke. But what I found was instead of paying attention to what the speaking characters meant, I started looking to make sure they did this in a different way. Then I discovered I didn't have to put he blurted or she asserted. I could use an action. Sometimes I find I do this sort of thing, "I'm out of here." Mary said while walking to the door. Makes life more simple to say "I'm out of here." Mary walked to the door.

I've also learned to leave out the adverbs to show the characters emotions about the words. "I'm out of here," Mary said angrily. becomes "I'm out of here." Mary slammed the door.

So think about the original quote and make your dialogue fit the character and watch the taglines and adverbs.