A-Z Challenge
For the A-Z challenge, I am posting writing and editing tips to help you improve and enhance your writing.
N is for Nice… and other boring adjectives you can do without
In a past life I taught creative writing to children. I spent hours going on and on about adjectives, writing down example after example, and using the words to ‘improve’ boring sentences. Now I spend hours working with authors advising them to cut adjectives from their work to make it less boring.
Of course, in the case of the children the goal was to extend their vocabulary and to teach them about words. With my authors, the goal is to help them weed out all those things that drag their writing down.
Adjectives, as I have noted in other posts, should be used with caution. And broad adjectives shouldn’t be used at all (except in dialogue).
For example:
‘Her hair looked nice.’
This sentence tells us hardly anything at all. The word ‘nice’ is too broad; it’s incredibly vague. How nice does her hair look? We just don’t know. The same goes for fast, slow, happy, sad, beautiful, good, bad, big, little – you get the picture (but your readers won’t, if these are the words you use).
Sometimes we use these terms because they are almost automatic – we don’t even notice them. If you think you might be guilty of this, then try running a search for the offending term; you might be surprised how often one of these words crops up.
Any adjectives that you particularly hate? Do let me know by leaving a comment below. Thanks!
I always hesitate about using the word “Nice” in any sentence now.
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Me too – not always easy to find an alternative though. Thank goodness for the thesaurus!
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I tell my EFL learners that ‘nice’ is a very convenient word because it can be used in any situation: food, clothes, people, places… But for a writer, I agree, it’s a vague word to be avoided. I’m so lucky you proofread my novel:) Every writer needs someone (or more even) to read through every word and ask them if it serves a purpose. We lack perspective for our own work (at least I do).
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It was an absolute pleasure to proofread your book 🙂 I think we all lack a certain amount of perspective when it comes to our own work.
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The older I get, the more I have to use my big fat Thesaurus.
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Me too! And I prefer the actual thesaurus I have to an online one.
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The word interesting, as in “That’s interesting,” has been getting on my nerves lately. It can mean something good, something bad, or can be sufficiently vague to mean nothing at all.
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Yep, that’s definitely one of those words that has such a vague meaning. Another one to add to the list…
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Oh, nice one. HAAAA! I’m terrible for nice, lovely, beautiful, interesting…. I loathe myself sometimes!!!
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I say (and write)the word really far too much – it just creeps in all the time. And even though I know I do it, I can’t seem to help it!
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THANKS! I’m printing this out so I can post it right by my computer, to keep me aware of potential landmines.
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You’re welcome – thanks so much for your support during the A-Z challenge 🙂
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Reblogged this on Writer's Zen Blog and commented:
Here’s an excellent reminder.
I’m printing out a page to post by my computer to remind me of these vague words that creep into my own writing.
And on that note — Have a ‘nice’ day!
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Thanks for the reblog 🙂
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I have to weed my Mss of ‘really’ and ‘just’ (not an adjective, I know), and many others.
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‘really’ is a word I overuse terribly – when I speak as well as when i write!
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Oh I have been guilty of using the boring adjectives. I also repeated the same ones over and over again. I had a major problem with ‘however’ (not an adjective, I know). I still use it a lot and while editing, I simply weed it out or replace it.
*Shantala @ ShanayaTales*
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I think that’s key – realising the words we overuse and making sure we weed them out. For me it’s ‘really’.
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Guilty as charged, especially in my blog comments. More work required. Thanks for helping me revisit this xx Rowena
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It’s a very easy trap to fall into – I really overuse ‘really’!
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