Drunkard's Walk Forums

...from each of more than ten different writers.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Quote:Elmore Leonard wrote:

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3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But "said" is far less intrusive than "grumbled", "gasped", "cautioned", "lied". I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated" and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

I beg to differ here.  I did that once before, and I found that I had entire paragraphs that fell flat from 'inactivity' on the character's parts - they simply didn't seem lively, so I mixed it up as much as possible and it seems to play well with my writing style now.  Of course, I try to never use anything that isn't immediately discernable for someone with less than a sixth grade reading level.

Quote:Anne Enright wrote:

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3 Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

Ouch!  Word that a little better, will ya?  We can't all have as little confidence and still be able to write!

Quote:Richard Ford wrote:

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2 Don't have children.

... Uhm, dude.  That's highly relative.
Haven't read the whole thing yet, but these were the rules that jumped out at me as possibly being some of the worst advice offered there.  Not to say there isn't any good advice - plenty of that, actually.  (^_^)

I didn't really feel like reading the whole set, but a couple from Margaret Atwood's jumped out at me... (Emphasis mine.)

"1 Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes."

"3 Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do."

Yeooowch!

-Morgan.

Quote:I beg to differ here. I did that once before, and I found that I had entire paragraphs that fell flat from 'inactivity' on the character's parts - they simply didn't seem lively, so I mixed it up as much as possible and it seems to play well with my writing style now. Of course, I try to never use anything that isn't immediately discernable for someone with less than a sixth grade reading level.

The thing is, you can write an entire conversation without using any speech verbs, if you pay attention to what you're doing. That said, I agree with you, but still I'd do so very sparingly. Mix it up -- a little of each variety in every conversation you write that's long enough to need it.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Bob Schroeck Wrote:

Quote:I beg to differ here. I did that once before, and I found that I had entire paragraphs that fell flat from 'inactivity' on the character's parts - they simply didn't seem lively, so I mixed it up as much as possible and it seems to play well with my writing style now. Of course, I try to never use anything that isn't immediately discernable for someone with less than a sixth grade reading level.

The thing is, you can write an entire conversation without using any speech verbs, if you pay attention to what you're doing. That said, I agree with you, but still I'd do so very sparingly. Mix it up -- a little of each variety in every conversation you write that's long enough to need it.

Oh, of course.  You'r not going to use many speech-verbs over the course of a monologue, if any at all!  Those things I tend to use for the more animated discussions my characters may have.
  

Morganni Wrote:"3 Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do."
Yeooowch!  

Actually, I thought that was supposed to be writing on your arm with an ink pen - a tried and true method of taking notes (Sara Palin endorses it! as long as you don't tend to sweat a lot.