onyxhawke: (Default)
onyxhawke ([personal profile] onyxhawke) wrote2008-07-18 03:44 pm

Writing advice

“Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.”
William Strunk

[identity profile] jamesenge.livejournal.com 2008-07-18 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I always enjoy alienating my friends, so I think I'll argue this point.

I'm not crazy about "not" rules for writing. Writers should do what works. But this one in particular bothers me, possibly because of a B that I got on a writing assignment in grad school. (The prof's comment: "Your frequent use of adverbs reduces the gravity of your presentation." My muttered response contained a verb, an adverb and a pronoun.)

But consider this old chestnut:

Red sky at night:
sailor's delight.

Red sky at morning:
sailor take warning.


Take the adjective away and it's not ungrammatical; it just doesn't have any point.

[identity profile] onyxhawke.livejournal.com 2008-07-19 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
I'm harder to alienate than that.

The point of this is pretty much a different slant on Twain's "lightning vs lightning bug". Personally i find Twain to have the most sensible advice on writing (and many other things) of anyone.

[identity profile] jamesenge.livejournal.com 2008-07-19 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
We're definitely on the same page about Twain. I'm a huge fan (especially the "Fenimore Cooper" essays).