Random RPing tip o' the day

[Hellfighter 17]

Originally posted by Super Buu
My seminar teacher gave us this golden nugget of truth, which might be useful for some Chubbsians. So here it is.

Don't use adverbs.

Wherever possible, anyway. There's almost always a way to say the same thing a verb+adverb would say using a single verb.

Let's use an example.

"I love you, Vegeta," Raditzu said softly.

It gets the point across, but surely there's a better, more concise way of putting it? Instead of putting 'said softly', you could sub in 'murmured'. That's a fairly obvious example, but by now you can probably understand what I mean.

Another example my lecturer used was "He ran quickly." But isn't going quickly implied when you're running? To me, simply "He ran." carries more dramatic force. The same thing applies to 'bellowed loudly'.

There are exceptions to the rule. Take "swimming silently". How do you say that in less words? You can't, really, and in that case it's probably best just to use the adverb.

Regardless, I think this does make writing more interesting and varied to read. I found that I tended to do it even before learning about the rule, but it's definitely something I'll look for now when proofreading my work. Others can definitely benefit.

That's all for today, kids!

My tip of the day: At least read the first post.