WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Esecially !ootedoodle "y E#$ORE #EONAR% & Series ' (()* +ords These are r,les I-ve ic.ed , alon/ the +ay to hel me remain invisible +hen I-m +ritin/ a boo., to hel me sho+ rather than tell +hat-s ta.in/ lace in the story0 I1 yo, have a 1acility 1or lan/,a/e and ima/ery and the so,nd o1 yo,r voice leases yo,, invisibility is not +hat yo, are a1ter, and yo, can s.i the r,les0 Still, yo, mi/ht loo. them over0 (0 Never oen a boo. +ith +eather0 I1 it-s only to create atmoshere, and not a character-s reaction to the +eather, yo, don-t +ant to /o on too lon/0 The reader is at to lea1 ahead loo.in/ 1or eole0 There are excetions0 I1 yo, haen to be "arry #oe2, +ho has more +ays to describe ice and sno+ than an Es.imo, yo, can do all the +eather reortin/ yo, +ant0 30 Avoid rolo/,es0 They can be annoyin/, esecially a rolo/,e 1ollo+in/ an introd,ction that comes a1ter a 1ore+ord0 ",t these are ordinarily 1o,nd in non1iction0 A rolo/,e in a novel is bac.story,and yo, can dro it in any+here yo, +ant0 There is a rolo/,e in 4ohn Steinbec.-s --S+eet Th,rsday,-- b,t it-s O050 beca,se a character in the boo. ma.es the oint o1 +hat my r,les are all abo,t0 !e says6 --I li.e a loto1 tal. in a boo. and I don-t li.e to have nobody tell me +hat the /,y that-s tal.in/ loo.s li.e0 I +ant to 1i/,re o,t +hat he loo.s li.e 1rom the +ay he tal.s0 0 0 0 1i/,re o,t +hat the/,y-s thin.in/ 1rom +hat he says0 I li.e some descrition b,t not too m,ch o1 that0 0 0 0 Sometimes I +ant a boo. to brea. loose +ith a b,nch o1 hootedoodle0 0 0 0 Sin , some retty +ords maybe or sin/ a little son/ +ith lan/,a/e0 That-s nice0 ",t I +ish it +as set aside so I don-t have to read it0 I don-t +ant hootedoodle to /et mixed , +ith the story0-- 70 Never ,se a verb other than --said-- to carry dialo/,e0 The line o1 dialo/,e belon/s to the character; the verb is the +riter stic.in/ his nose in0 ",t said is 1ar less intr,sive than /r,mbled, /ased, ca,tioned, lied0 I once noticed $ary $c8arthy endin/ a line o1 dialo/,e +ith --she asseverated,-- and had to sto readin/ to /etthe dictionary0 90 Never ,se an adverb to modi1y the verb --said-- 0 0 0 0 0 0 he admonished /ravely0 To ,se an adverb this +ay &or almost any +ay' is a mortal sin0 The +riter is no+ exosin/ himsel1 in earnest, ,sin/ a +ord that distracts and can interr,t the rhythm o1 the exchan/e0 I have a character in one o1 my boo.s tell ho+ she ,sed to +rite historical romances --1,ll o1 rae and adverbs0-- :0 5ee yo,r exclamation oints ,nder control0 ;o, are allo+ed no more than t+o or three er (**,*** +ords o1 rose0 I1 yo, have the .nac. o1 layin/ +ith exclaimers the +ay Tom Wol1e does, yo, can thro+ them in by the hand1,l0 se re/ional dialect, atois, sarin/ly0 Once yo, start sellin/ +ords in dialo/,e honetically and loadin/ the a/e +ith aostrohes, yo, +on-t be able to sto0 Notice the +ay Annie Pro,lx cat,res the 1lavor o1 Wyomin/ voices in her boo. o1 short stories --8lose Ran/e0-- ?0 Avoid detailed descritions o1 characters0 Which Steinbec. covered0 In Ernest !emin/+ay-s --!ills #i.e White Elehants-- +hat do the --American and the /irl +ith him-- loo. li.e@ --She had ta.en o11 her hat and ,t it on the table0-- That-s the only re1erence to a hysical descrition in the story, and yet +e see the co,le and .no+ them by their tones o1 voice, +ith not one adverb in si/ht0 A0 %on-t /o into /reat detail describin/ laces and thin/s0 >nless yo,-re $ar/aret At+ood and can aint scenes +ith lan/,a/e or +rite landscaes in the style o1 4im !arrison0 ",t even i1 yo,-re /ood at it, yo, don-t +ant descritions thatbrin/ the action, the 1lo+ o1 the story, to a standstill0 And 1inally6 (*0 Try to leave o,t the art that readers tend to s.i0 A r,le that came to mind in (A?70 Thin. o1 +hat yo, s.i readin/ a novel6 thic. ara/rahs o1 rose yo, can see have too many +ords in them0 What the +riter is doin/, he-s +ritin/, eretratin/ hootedoodle, erhas ta.in/ another shot at the +eather, or has/one into the character-s head, and the reader either .no+s +hat the /,y-s thin.in/ or doesn-t care0 I-ll bet yo, don-t s.i dialo/,e0 $y most imortant r,le is one that s,ms , the (*0 I1 it so,nds li.e +ritin/, I re+rite it0 Or, i1 roer ,sa/e /ets in the +ay, it may have to /o0 I can-t allo+ +hat +e learned in En/lish comosition to disr,t the so,nd and rhythm o1 the narrative0 It-s my attemt to remain invisible, not distract the reader 1rom the story +ith obvio,s +ritin/0 &4oseh 8onrad said somethin/ abo,t +ords /ettin/ in the +ay o1 +hat yo, +ant to say0' I1 I +rite in scenes and al+ays 1rom the oint o1 vie+ o1 a artic,lar character BB the one +hose vie+ best brin/s the scene to li1e BB I-m able to concentrate on the voices o1 the characters tellin/ yo, +ho they are and ho+ they 1eel abo,t +hat they see and +hat-s /oin/ on, and I-m no+here in si/ht0 What Steinbec. did in --S+eet Th,rsday-- +as title his chaters as an indication, tho,/h obsc,re, o1 +hat they cover0 --Whom the Gods #ove They %rive N,ts-- is one, --#o,sy Wednesday-- another0 The third chater is titled --!ootedoodle (-- and the 7?th chater --!ootedoodle 3-- as +arnin/s to the reader, as i1 Steinbec. is sayin/6 --!ere-s +here yo,-ll see me ta.in/ 1li/hts o1 1ancy +ith my +ritin/, and it +on-t /et in the +ay o1 the story0 S.i them i1 yo, +ant0-- --S+eet Th,rsday-- came o,t in (A:9, +hen I +as C,st be/innin/ to be ,blished, and I-ve never 1or/otten that rolo/,e0 %id I read the hootedoodle chaters@ Every +ord0 Writers on Writin/ This article is art o1 a series in +hich +riters exlore literary themes0 Previo,s contrib,tions, incl,din/ essays by 4ohn >di.e, E0 #0 %octoro+, Ed $c"ain, Annie Pro,lx, 4amaica 5incaid, Sa,l "ello+ and others, can be 1o,nd +ith this article at The Ne+ ;or. Times on the Web6 +++0nytimes0comDarts