Writing Tips (#TuesdayTips)
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TuesdayTips179
Stealing The Limelight
Welcome to the #TuesdayTip. This week, I am celebrating when a minor character unexpectedly takes over the reins.
We writers love a good cliché. Not in our prose, obviously – we and our editors strive to cut them wherever we see them – but when asked to describe the process of writing, hell yeah, bring them on! One of those clichés is that sometimes a ‘character takes over’ the writing. For the logically-minded non-writer, this is patently nonsense. You are the writer, everything comes from your mind. The character is a fictional construct from your mind. Ergo, you are still in control. Well, duh, obviously.
Yet sometimes it feels as if you aren’t in control of the process.
A related phenomenon is when a relatively minor character suddenly becomes more important. Like a character actor stealing all the attention from the A list celebrities.
I LOVE this!
When writing my third DCI Warren Jones novel, Silent As The Grave, I happened to be taking a creative writing class. Our homework was to write a short scene with two characters. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I chose to introduce the main antagonist’s henchman, Bixby. A minor character that was little more than hired muscle (he didn’t even have a first name). Over the course of those 300 words, the book was turned upside down. Bixby became one of the most intriguing characters I’ve ever met. By the end of the book, he was the most important and complex person in the story, other than my hero, DCI Jones.
More recently, in my current work in process, I introduced a female character who, whilst integral to the story, was little more than ‘utility character’ – a person that exists solely to help move everything along. Well, she wasn’t having any of that! Within a couple of paragraphs of me first meeting her, the entire focus of the book changed. It is now her story. Everything takes place because of her actions and it is her we are rooting for. And I am loving every second of writing her. And the amazing thing? The underlying premise hasn’t changed! My original two line idea is still there, in its entirety.
So, my advice? Take a leaf from my years of teaching. If a pupil is elbowing their way to the front of the class, don’t slap them down and make them return to their seat. Don’t stick to the original plan. Let them take over for a bit. If it doesn’t work, never mind, you can always return to the original idea. You can even cut them out and use them in a different book (the character, not the pupil!). Because, sometimes the end result is far better than it would have been originally.
What are your thoughts on this? Should characters stay in their lane? Would you rather stick with the original plan, or are you willing to take a risk and give them a bigger voice to see what happens?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time, all the best,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
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TuesdayTips178
TV Review:
To Catch A Copper
This week’s #TuesdayTip is a TV Review for To Catch A Copper – a truly jaw-dropping fly-on-the-wall series about the work of Avon and Somerset Police’s Counter Corruption Unit. Filmed over four years, it is currently available to stream on All4, with new episodes airing each Monday.
When Jed Mercurio first started writing the award-winning BBC drama, Line Of Duty, he famously received very little assistance from the police (at least officially), and so his AC-12 unit is largely fictional. It was a brilliant series, but bore only limited resemblance to what really takes place in this incredibly sensitive area of policing.
So full credit to Avon and Somerset Constabulary for allowing TV crews behind the scenes to show what really goes on. And credit also to the Chief Constable of A&S Police, Sarah Crew, for taking part and being willing to speak, on camera, extensively about her own feelings on the subject.
At the time of writing, three episodes have aired. Officers that are subject to allegations of misconduct typically appear on screen, their interviews recorded without their names or identity concealed. Sometimes victims also appear, with some brave enough to also do so openly. There is extensive use of body worn camera evidence.
The preponderance of allegations so far have been of sexual misconduct, with officers accused of inappropriate sexual relations with members of the public, revenge porn, an attempt to use police resources to blackmail a man using sex-workers, rape and even grooming, sexual assault and unwanted sexual advances towards police cadets or new recruits to the service.
Other allegations have involved violent confrontations with the public, a failure of duty of care towards prisoners, and alleged racially-insensitive policing or unwarranted and poorly carried out stop and searches. The thoughts and feelings of victims and their loved-ones are also given airtime.
The show follows the team as they investigate these potential offences and we see the ultimate outcome of the proceedings.
This is not a comfortable programme to watch, not least because of the questions and debates it raises. Sometimes you find yourself outright disgusted at these officers’ actions. Other times, you may find yourself siding with the officers who appear to have done their job as well as they could under difficult circumstances. It certainly provoked debate in our house.
You also see the role of the Police Federation Representatives. I learned that they are not defence lawyers, nor necessarily advocates for the accused officer. Rather they are there to ensure that correct procedures are followed.
The outcomes are also a subject of debate and can leave you feeling angered at decisions made, whether by the IOPC (Independent Office of Police Conduct) not to recommend more serious disciplinary action or by the Crown Prosecution Service not to proceed with criminal charges. There is plenty of fodder here for the armchair lawyer. The cynic may also question the use of ‘reflective practise’, whereby an officer found lacking discusses what went wrong and how they could improve. At times, you feel that the officers involved are simply saying what they need to say to tick all the boxes and return to duty. And then there is the time taken; officers accused of very serious offences can spend over a year suspended on full pay, before resigning the day before their tribunal.
In the programme’s voiceover the narrator questions whether it is right that a system where the police investigate themselves is up to the task. Sometimes, you have to wonder …What are your thoughts on this series? Too kind to the police? Too harsh? Were you shocked?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time, all the best,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
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TuesdayTips177
Space Is Pace
Welcome all! This week’s #TuesdayTip is a brief companion piece to last week’s discussion about rhythm and pace TuesdayTip176.A couple of years ago, I was sitting in the audience at a literary festival, listening to the authors on the panel discussing their writing. One of the authors was Steve Cavanagh, the highly talented author of the Eddie Flynn legal thriller series(*). Something he said really stuck with me.
Like a lot of writers, especially those in the thriller genre, when editing his prose, he keeps an eye out for pace. The Eddie Flynn thrillers area mixture of high-tension legal action, lower tension (but still exciting) legal skullduggery and heart-stopping action sequences. The pacing is always excellent and very well judged, with the reader in turns bowled along by the excitement of a fiery exchange or violent altercation, or allowed a well-earned breather as Eddie plots his next move.He said something very simple, but absolutely on-the-nose:
You can judge the pace of a scene by the amount of white space on the page.
Try it. Take a book off the shelf and compare different scenes.
Fast dialogue and exchanges between characters tend to involve short sentences, with rapid switching between speakers. Common convention is to start a new line each time a different character speaks. Furthermore, that first line is typically indented on the left-hand side. That means white space at both the beginning and the end of a line.Now look at a slower sequence. For example a person delivering an impassioned monologue to the jury. Typically, the paragraphs are longer, and with only one person speaking, there are fewer line breaks. The text is usually justified (the spacing between letters is subtly manipulated so that each line takes up the same width on the page). There is a lot less white space on the page.
The same goes for faster-paced action sequences, compared to slower-paced descriptive scenes. Shorter sentences. More line breaks. More and shorter paragraphs. All of these mean that the pace of a scene impacts the amount of white space.
Of course, a cynic might say that publishers are already clamping down on word count to counteract rising paper costs. How long until they start demanding that books are faster-paced so they use less ink? Unlikely, but never say never …
What are your thoughts on this? Is this an over-simplification? Could one write an algorithm to give a book a ‘pace score’? Is this a useful observation for writers or largely meaningless?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time, all the best,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.(*) You can buy Steve’s books here or check out my reviews of Thirteen and Fifty Fifty here.
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TuesdayTips176
Getting The Write Rhythm
Welcome to this week’s #TuesdayTip. This time I want to talk about introducing Rhythm to our writing.
One of my pleasures in recent years is hearing my books read aloud by my wonderful audio narrator, Malk Williams. A key part of the listening experience is hearing him add inflection and rhythm to my words.As writers, one of the things we try hard to do is invoke emotion in our readers. Choosing the correct words and sentence structure, whether in prose or dialogue, can elevate a simple sentence such that it no longer simply states what is happening or what our characters are saying, but also makes the readers (or listeners ) feel what the characters are going through. Just this week, an extremely popular author, that I have read for a few years, actually had me crying for about thirty or so pages. That’s pretty rare for me, and I am determined next time our paths cross to take them to one side and tell them. I am being deliberately circumspect about their identity, because I don’t want to give away spoilers – fans of their series who haven’t read the latest book may figure out what has happened in this book to evoke such an extreme reaction.The rhythm of prose is key to evoking emotion. It is also a way to dictate the pace at which a passage is read, which again, feeds back into the reader’s emotional experience. It can also act as cue to narrators when they read the book aloud.
There are several tricks that we as authors can use.
Looking first at dialogue.
You can use punctuation and simple formatting to help add flavour or rhythm to your dialogue. For example an ellipsis (…) indicates that a person has trailed off mid-sentence. An em break (an extra-long hyphen that I can’t show you due to formatting issues with this blog) can show interrupted speech or speech that is abruptly cut off.You can also emphasise individual words with italics.
For example:
Take the sentence “What do you want to do?” asked Warren. Out of context there are no cues to tell you how Warren speaks this sentence.
Now let’s add some italics.“What do you want to do?” asked Warren. The italics tell the reader to stress the word ‘you’.
Alternatively.
“What do you want to do?” asked Warren. This time the italics stress a different word.
Or
“What do you want to do?”
“What do you want to do?”
“What do you want to do?”Try reading aloud these five sentences and see how the addition of italics can change the meaning or intent of a simple sentence. A good narrator will also follow these cues.
The above tricks can be used in prose as well as dialogue.
Line breaks can introduce a tiny additional pause, which can again add emphasis to a sentence or increase dramatic tension..
For example:He opened the report and felt a wave of disappointment. Their key suspect was already dead.
As opposed to:
He opened the report and felt a wave of disappointment.
Their key suspect was already dead.That line break extends the natural pause at the end of the sentence, which adds an additional element of drama.
Things to avoid:
If you are writing a report, and want to highlight sections or attract a reader’s attention, there are a plethora of useful options in Word and other word processors. Even email packages allow rich text these days, so you can format a message for clarity. It can be tempting to use those tools in your novels.
However, be mindful of your audience. Visually-impaired readers may struggle to differentiate between different formats, or find the text difficult to read. Blind readers using screen-reading software to read aloud messages may also struggle, since the software either omits or struggles with inconsistent and complex formatting. For this reason, many organisations, including HM Government and the Civil Service, have a strict set of guidelines about what formatting is acceptable, to ensure inclusivity.
Consider also the limitations of the format that your reader is using.
Using bold to emphasise text is usually acceptable, although I rarely see it in fiction, other than perhaps for chapter titles. You can also use different fonts – eg if your characters are having a text conversation. But most books (including eBooks on most dedicated eReaders) are just black text on a white background, and coloured ink increase printing costs, so avoid colour coding your text!What other tricks have you seen that can add rhythm to a novel? Are there things that you think don’t work?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
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TuesdayTips175
Block Buster
Classified Stories
Welcome to this week’s Today’s #TuesdayTip. Since it’s still January and you might not be back into the swing of things yet, here is another Block Buster – a short exercise to either bust your writer’s block, or just a fun writing challenge to practise your skills.
Listings or classified ads have a long history. Originally found in the back of newspapers, they have now largely migrated online to sites such as Craigslist or Ebay or even Facebook Marketplace. They are a treasure trove of new and second-hand items for sale or even paid for services, such as gardening or decorating.
For today’s exercise, we are going to use one as a prompt.
First of all, choose a listings site. When you are satisfied, find three items for sale.
Now incorporate those three items into a short story.
For a bit of variety or extra challenge, why not include a paid-for service?
The exercise is replete with possibilities.- Your characters could simply use those three objects.
- Or they could find themselves in need of those objects. Why?
- Alternately, you could turn it on its head and compose a piece about why those objects or services are being offered.
- What happens if the object they buy isn’t quite what they are expecting, or has a hidden past?
PS this exercise gives me the excuse to repeat one of my favourite writing stories.
It is claimed that Ernest Hemmingway once bet $10 he could write a story in no more than six words.
The result is a masterpiece, told in the form of a classified ad. His fellow writers paid up without argument.
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
Whether or not it really was penned by Hemmingway is unknown. Either way, the author is an absolute genius.
Have fun!
Remember the rules:- Set yourself a time limit.
- Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
- Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
- It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
All the best, Paul.
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TuesdayTips174
Three’s Not A Crowd.
The Power Of The Triumvirate.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I finally started binge-watching the classic 90s sitcom, Frasier (currently available on All4 – the Channel 4 streaming service). We’re half-way through season five and we are loving it!
One of the big strengths of the show is the writing. As with many US sitcoms of that era, it is the product of a writing room, with each 22 minute episode jam-packed with clever dialogue.
And it got me thinking.
Frasier is chock-full of examples of clever triumvirates. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is derived from Latin and originally referred to political systems centred on three individuals. In recent years its scope has been broadened somewhat to refer to any groups of three people working together. I am stretching the definition even further to encompass three characters interacting (for doubters, I’d like to point out that I haven’t invented this, it has been used this way by others).
For those unfamiliar with the premise of Frasier, the series centres primarily on five characters, with a host of supporting characters.
Dr Frasier Crane – the pompous psychiatrist first introduced in the sitcom Cheers. He has just moved back to his hometown of Seattle and now hosts a radio phone-in show.
Dr Niles Crane – Frasier’s younger brother is also a psychiatrist and is even more pompous.
The two brothers are close friends, but bicker regularly and are unabashed snobs.
Martin (Marty) Crane – Frasier and Niles’ father. A former Seattle police officer forced into early retirement by a bullet wound to his hip. Unlike his two sons, he is a straightforward, down-to-earth, stereotypical, American everyman. Despite his sons’ academic and professional success, he’d much rather the two brothers were keen on sports and drank beer, rather than expensive wines. At the beginning of the series, Marty is forced to move into Frasier’s luxurious apartment (along with his dog, Eddie), since he can’t look after himself.
Daphne Moon – she is Marty’s live-in healthcare provider and physiotherapist. Allegedly from England (the least said about Essex actress Jane Leaves’ Manchester accent the better), she is blissfully unaware of Niles’ infatuation with her.
Roz Doyle – Frasier’s radio producer. A voracious maneater, she has far more in common with Marty than the two brothers, but nevertheless becomes close friends with Frasier.
The series has multiple triumvirates, thus demonstrating that the concept is fluid. A character can be part of more than one triumvirate, sometimes switching groups within a scene.
Triumvirates lend themselves especially well to sitcoms. They allow three way conversations that can double-down on a punchline.
A good example is Frasier, Niles and Marty. A typical set up might be one of the brothers giving a feedline, to which the other replies with a punchline. In the context of Frasier, this might involve the two brothers snobbery becoming more and more outlandish, until Marty interjects and makes both of them appear foolish. Often he gets the biggest laugh. This set-up also works well with Daphne bringing the two brothers back down to Earth, rather than Marty.
Another set-up that works well is when two of the triumvirate are pitched against the third. Daphne and Marty showing Frasier to be a fool, after he has somehow got himself into a pickle is a common example.
A regular source of comic relief takes place between Frasier, Roz and Niles. Often taking place in the coffee shop they frequent, a typical setup involves Roz sharing her woes with Frasier (typically to do with her love life). Niles will then throw in a single snide remark about Roz’s promiscuity.
Triumvirates work because they often bring balance and outside perspective. And for this reason, they are equally effective in drama. Another great example from TV is the original Star Trek. Despite its ensemble cast, the centrepiece of the show typically centres around the triumvirate of Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock and Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy.
Here, we see examples of two against one – Spock and McCoy trying to persuade Kirk to take a particular course of action. We also see many examples of McCoyand Spock giving Kirk conflicting advice, which he then has to weigh up to make his decision. And finally, we see Kirk acting as mediator as Spock and McCoy bicker and insult each other.
The fifth film in the franchise, The Final Frontier, is often criticised as one of the weakest entries. But if there is one aspect of the film that fans universally love, it is the triumvirate, especially in the first part of the film. Here we see Spock and McCoy aghast at Kirk’s reckless behaviour as he scales the mountain El Capitan without a safety harness. Later we see the three friends seated around a camp fire. Kirk and McCoy conspire against Spock by fooling him into thinking marshmallows are called ‘marshmelons’. Finally, we see them bonding over a rendition of row, row, row your boat.
In summary. Triumvirates are a powerful tool in a writers toolbox. They can allow a writer to balance out a scene, bring forth different aspects of a character’s personality, and also allow some exposition through the characters’ dialogue.
What good examples of triumvirates can you think of? Is there something special about three characters, rather than two or four? As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
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TuesdayTips173
Block Buster
Who Are You?
Today’s #TuesdayTip is another Block Buster – a short exercise to either bust your writer’s block, or just a fun writing challenge to practise your skills.
For many of us, our new year resolution is to write more. But, January is a funny old month. After the celebrations of the holiday season, followed by the rubbish weather in the northern hemisphere, then the endless stretch to payday, our creative juices can prove elusive.
But sometimes, all we need to get us back on track is a little kick-start. A catalyst to get things going.
Today’s activity is designed to do just that.
Make up the backstory of a person you see in the street.
Whether you are out and about doing chores, or perhaps having a well-earned coffee on the high street, the chances are that you’ve spotted some random strangers recently. People you know nothing about. A brief glance, with no meaningful interaction. A blank canvas, if you will.
So invent their story. The piece can be as long as you like. They might become a fully-fledged character in their own right, that finds themselves in a longer work, or just the subject of a couple of paragraphs speculating on who they are and what their story is.
If you need a little inspiration, here are a few prompts to get you going.- An older person – did they serve in the war? That elderly woman with a Zimmer frame, who looks like a cuddly great grandmother, might have spent the Second World War labouring under the Official Secrets Act to crack Nazi codes. Perhaps the elderly gentleman queuing in the Post Office did his National Service in a far-flung part of the world?
- That happy looking couple – what happens behind their closed front door?
- The two women chatting in a coffee shop. How do they know each other? Are they new acquaintances or did they meet at school and have all sorts of adventures before settling down?
- That business-looking type juggling a takeout coffee and a mobile phone as they scurry down the street. Where are they going? What is their job?
- The lone person at the bus stop scrolling on their phone – what do they do for a living? What’s the secret they only tell their loved ones?
Everyone has a story to tell.
Important caveat: As tempting as it is, DON’T TAKE THEIR PHOTOGRAPH. Not only is it creepy, having access to a perfect image to draw inspiration from will be counterproductive. If you just catch a glimpse of this person, then try to recreate them later, your memory will play tricks on you. Your imagination will be forced to fill in the gaps. No good for a police lineup, but perfect for a piece of creative writing.
Have fun!
Remember the rules:- Set yourself a time limit.
- Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
- Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
- It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
All the best, Paul.
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TuesdayTips172
TV Review:
The Met
This week’s #TuesdayTip is another TV Review. The Met, available on BBC iPlayer, was one of the stand-out fly-on-the-wall documentaries in recent years.
The show follows various teams from London’s Metropolitan Police Force. First of all, it is worth noting that although the voice over on the open credits mentions the unprecedented difficulties facing the Met, with an implicit mention of the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, it doesn’t feature this case. Nor is it a quick PR exercise churned out by the Met. This is the fourth season of the series and some of the cases featured pre-date the Everard tragedy by some years.
The range of crimes featured varies far more than many of these series, with not just murders being investigated. Some episodes follow two unrelated cases (linked perhaps by similar topics), whilst others focus on a single crime.
Included are investigations into the murder of a teenage boy, a missing persons case, the rape of a young woman and murder of a homeless man. A serial sexual predator is identified and prosecuted, and we see inside the elite covert Flying Squad as they try to catch a criminal gang. One of the more unusual cases involves the stabbing of a motorcycle stuntman filming a music video.
Throughout, the victims and their families are well-represented, and treated with dignity by the police. We see a combination of state-of-the-art policing, good old-fashioned detective work and forensics. As always, we see the compassion and professionalism of the vast majority of police officers and staff. There’s no doubt that they are as horrified and affronted by the actions of the devils in their midst, like Wayne Couzens, as the public are.
All-in-all, a well-produced, highly watchable series, with something for writers and casual viewers alike.
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TuesdayTips171
Block Buster
Rhyme or Reason
Today’s #TuesdayTip is another Block Buster – a short exercise to either bust your writer’s block, or just a fun writing challenge to practise your skills.
There’s no avoiding the festive season, as it barrels its way towards us like a runaway freight train, so today’s exercise embraces the inevitable.
What is the story behind a Christmas carol or other festive tune? What made Good King Wenceslas look out his window? What is that poor little donkey thinking as he hauls a heavily pregnant woman from inn to inn? What were the shepherds chatting about as they watched their flocks by night (were they actually washing their socks?). What about songs from other festive traditions?
Remember the rules:- Set yourself a time limit.
- Write without stopping, editing or overthinking.
- Write whatever comes to mind and don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense.
- It doesn’t matter if it has nothing to do with the scene that you are stuck on.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
As it is the festive season, and those mince pies aren’t going to eat themselves, the TuesdayTip will be taking a short break.
However you choose to celebrate (or avoid!) the festive season, I wish you all the best, and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Paul
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TuesdayTips170
A Kick Up The Adverbial.
Using Adverbs To Describe Dialogue.
Hello and welcome to this week’s #TuesdayTip!
Today I am going to be looking at an essential piece of grammar the adverb.
If, like me, you went to school in England in the eighties, you were probably never taught grammar properly. That includes the meaning of words such as ‘adverb‘. The good news, is that you will have been using, reading and writing them all of your life, you just had no idea that was what they were called!
In a nutshell, adverbs are words that modify and add context to a verb (a ‘doing word’). For example ‘she said happily.‘ ‘He ran slowly.‘
In these examples, the verbs (doing word) are ‘said’ and ‘ran’. The adverbs are the modifiers, underlined (happily and slowly).
As I have been looking at dialogue in previous TuesdayTips [Tip166 and Tip167], I am going to continue with that and focus on adverbs and dialogue tags.
As a rule of thumb, you should try and minimise their usage. Ideally the words chosen and the surrounding prose should tell the reader how the person is feeling, or their tone of voice.
It is drummed into writers that we should ‘show not tell’. This also applies to dialogue. By carefully choosing words and phrases, we can avoid the need to explicitly tell our readers how our characters are feeling. By constantly having to signpost our character’s feelings with adverbs, the text can become clunky and lose its flow.
But don’t ditch them entirely. Sometimes they are essential. For example:
“You went out drinking without saying anything,” she said angrily. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?“
In this example, you need to reinforce that the speaker is angry, because the language is actually quite ambiguous. I can easily change the tone of the statement by changing the adverb.
“You went out drinking without saying anything. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” she said teasingly.
Other times, you can lose the adverb by using a different dialogue tag.
“You went out drinking without saying anything,” she shouted. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?“
Or
“You went out drinking without saying anything. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” she teased.
A bonus here, is that you have also shortened the sentence by one word. Not much, but sometimes every little helps!
Sometimes, you can even cut the dialogue tag and the adverb entirely.
The following says the same thing, but its meaning is so clear that you don’t need to tell the reader what the character is feeling. Place it in context, and you can easily leave the reader in no doubt that this is being said at high volume, without ever needing to tell the reader this.
“So, you just decided to go out on the piss? Seriously, did you really think I wouldn’t notice?“
Ultimately, the decision whether or not to use adverbs is a personal one. However, I generally think that their overuse should be avoided. Ask yourself if you really need one or if there is an alternate way to write the sentence? On the other hand, they exist for a reason. Sometimes readers need additional help, especially if they speak English as an additional language or are not neurotypical, and require extra clues to judge a character’s mood.
What do you think of adverbs? Are there times when they are necessary? What about different audiences?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
