I don’t often have much advice for writers of fiction, but in the interest of  more interesting writing, I’d like to offer some words to use instead of “said.” And some warnings. Writing students have to learn a lot of rules. Some rules contradict other rules, so if you like breaking rules, you’ll enjoy writing. Follow someone’s rule and you’ll be breaking another one. Take “said.” It’s a rule somewhere that you should never use any other word to carry dialog. It’s also a rule that you shouldn’t use the same word all the time. So carry the dialog with as many words as you want, because said is dead. My eighth grade English teacher believed in the rule not to use the same word too much. She announced one day that we weren’t allowed to use “said” in our stories anymore. Since we had to read them out loud to the class, I can assure you with some confidence that most of us just substituted “stated.” Well, it wasn’t “said,” so she was satisfied. It’s also a rule, at least to some writers, that we shouldn’t use adverbs. “I’ll break both rules at once,” he said to himself stubbornly. … Continue reading →

People who have ulcers need to go on a bland diet and avoid spicy foods. Most of them find it boring. People won’t eat tasteless food if they don’t have to. And no one will choose to read insipid writing. So give them something tasty. Paint a picture. We have five physical senses, and our writing can appeal to all of them using sensory words. Bland writing often overuses forms of to be. Lazy writers neglect to stop and think of verbs where something actually happens. They also overuse passive voice and commonplace adjectives and adverbs. Pick strong nouns or verbs instead. But don’t diss adjectives entirely. They include many of the sensory words that can give your writing zest. Mark Twain gave this well-known advice to another writer: When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice. Notice that he said the adjectives that remain after … Continue reading →