WHO's idea was it that using lots of adjectives and no passive voice is a good way to write? Let me say it right here. THEY WERE WRONG.
"A smile curved her pink lips."
Give me a break. The girl was eight. Of course she had pink lips. For an adjective describing the color of her lips to be appropriate, they would need to be a color OTHER THAN pink. And really. The smile curved her lips? (Pink ones, don't forget.) She smiled, okay?
To continue just a little further in my rant... When an author avoids any form of the word "say," it gets really irritating. It pulls you out of the story, for one. Secondly, when an adjective or other verb would be necessary, it weakens the strength of the exception. Let me explain. If a person declares, states, answers, announces, asserts, etc... all the time, it really detracts from those same words when they are used sparingly.
Okay. I'm being really vague here, but I'm trying not to pick on particular authors. I could give you all sorts of concrete examples from real books, but I will restrain myself. All I'm saying is I remember being taught in English class that I should NEVER use passive voice (Have you ever read a book that didn't use passive voice very often? It's a horrible experience.), avoid boring verbs like "say," and put in adjectives wherever I could. Maybe those teachers were just trying to get us to expand our vocabulary, but unfortunately, the lesson often sticks too hard.
It all comes down to balance. That's all I'm saying. :)
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2 comments:
You must have a wonderful time listening to Pres. Monson speak!! No one seems to understand me when I tell them that I sometimes have to translate his talks into ASL in my head just to keep my sanity. Pretty much anything is better in ASL anyway. ;)
here here! he he
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