--- Bob Toomey <
btoomey@javanet.com> wrote:
> Dick Lochte wrote:
> >I'm also weary of the "said" thing.
> "You're right, it's not new advice, but it
still
> bears repeating," I insist
> adamantly.
I have to agree with this, as well as with the prohibition
against adverbs. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it
yet, but an early example of this particular piece of advice
is Hemingway-- certainly not only an admirable writer, but
also one who was not the least bit soft-boiled himself. He
claimed to write a piece, then go back through it crossing
out the adjectives and adverbs. Tony Hillerman also said
something to the safe effect at one point--if you're using an
adjective, you probably have the wrong noun; if you're using
an adverb, you probably have the wrong verb.
As for Robert B. Parker, his use of "said" exclusively
(I must have the wrong verb there) is about the only thing
about his recent writing that *doesn't* bother me.
G.
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