Nouns. Verbs. Adjectives.
These are the basic building blocks of language, but many writers don’t actively think about their specific word choices and the role these words play in a sentence as they’re writing. Not until it’s time to revise, that is.
According to our favorite book on style, revision and editing have two main goals:
- To make sure all the separate parts of a sentence come together and form a coherent thought
- That every coherent thought is also as clear and precise as possible
These goals are achieved by cutting every word that does not actively contribute to the reader’s understanding of a scene or idea.
We’ve talked about cutting filler words before, but we’ve noticed that even when unnecessary modifiers and conjunctions are purged, your writing can still be muddied up by imprecise adjectives.
Let’s back up for a second and bring you back to third grade. Adjectives are words that describe nouns. A blue sky. A happy smile. The combinations are endless.
Adjectives are the main tool an author has to grab a reader. A well-chosen one can paint a scene with the utmost care, but one that is too vague can leave your readers feeling detached.
So how do you know if your adjectives are doing their jobs? Think about what the words are literally telling you.
A blue sky. All clear skies are blue, so this adjective is communicating that there are no (or few) clouds, and nothing else. But is it early morning? Or late afternoon? Blue is a vague color—there are thousands of shades of it, and by just using “blue” and not a more specific color, you are missing out on a simple and easy way to world-build.
A crazy person. Do you mean that this person is actually mentally ill? Or are they just acting irrationally? Are they afraid? Angry? Panicked? Or perhaps they are just silly and offbeat, or daring. Be detailed. Be specific, and your reader will thank you.
Due to colloquial and slang usage, words like “crazy” are employed in dozens of situations, even though there are better words out there for your readers. Remember, it’s possible a non-native speaker, or just someone with different slang, won’t fully understand what you’re saying.
Many adjectives probably work in your writing just fine, but you want them to work overtime to give your reader the most exact and unambiguous imagery possible.
What kinds of adjectives work overtime for you?
