Apr 13, 2022
“Brigitte,” Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor, is available on ebook and audiobook. Follow the link to find them on Amazon:
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The following is an imperfect transcript of this episode. A complete transcript can be found on the show’s webpage.
[00:00:00] So you're a new writer. You are about to get started on your very first work in progress, but you are a little timid to get started because you don't know some of the danger that lies ahead. We are going to be talking about the pitfalls of writing. Today on Writing in the Tiny House.
[00:00:21] Hello. Hello. Hello and welcome to today's episode of Writing in the Tiny House.
[00:00:48] I am your host Devin Davis, and I am the guy who lives in a tiny house in Northern Utah who tells you about writing as I write. Or as I want to write right now, my works in progress are a little bit put on pause due to personal reasons, but I love to share the way that writing works and the way that publishing works and the way that self publishing works.
[00:01:16] I have decided to do this next little series, because I guess this year, we're all about the series of episodes. This upcoming series is all about the pitfalls of writing. Some of the things that we get ourselves tangled up in that can make writing hard or disappointing, and that is anything from craft to publishing.
[00:01:39] And so I'm going to do two episodes on craft, two episodes on design, and then wrap up this little mini series on publishing itself. So let's get into the first episode on the pitfalls of writing that many newbies find themselves doing, and that is the trap of L Y adverbs. If you have ever read the very first Harry Potter book and you have read it out loud,
[00:02:15] I encourage you to do that. Most of us have read Harry Potter and so take Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and sit down for a while and read it out loud. L Y adverbs, if you are new to the game of writing, L Y adverbs are one of those things that we do in order. There they are a crutch. They are words that we use to make things pretty, to make things prettier sounding, but they are a crutch to not using better words.
[00:02:52] L Y adverbs allow us to use weak verbs And then put a bandaid on them by using an L Y adverb. L Y adverbs are the difference between
[00:03:05] speaking loudly and yelling or
[00:03:09] walking quickly and running. L Y adverbs you will find, can usually just be stricken from your manuscript. And if you really like your L Y adverb and what it's doing for you, see if you can simply use a stronger verb so that you can get rid of the L Y adverb. So a writer who struggles with L Y adverbs, it is usually something that can be pinned down very early in the editing process.
[00:03:42] You send your work to a critique partner or whatever, usually a critique partner can pick up an L by adverb problem within the first 500 words of your manuscript. And if they know what they're doing, they will send it back to you with that type of feedback before having to read the rest of your manuscript. Or if you are early in the drafting process and you haven't finished your work yet, sending your work to do ,a quick, like first five pages or whatever, first chapter to a critique partner
[00:04:19] so that you can get feedback like L Y adverbs, like passive voice, some different things like this, so that you can correct it early in your craft, early in your work in progress, and then address that as you carry on. So, like I said, L Y adverbs are the bandaid on a weak verb. And the way to get around L by adverbs is to use stronger verbs.
[00:04:44] Now I'm not ever going to say that L Y adverbs are off limits, but I might as well, especially if you are new to the game. L Y adverbs are great. They serve a purpose and using them sparingly is great, but it is better to lean towards not using them at all. And so if you want to just open up your work in progress and do a quick find for L Y it will bring to your attention all of the times that you use L Y adverbs.
[00:05:19] And I'm going to throw in the word. Very is not an L by adverb, but it is an adverb that can just be removed from your manuscript. I believe it was mark Twain that said the way to deal with, or I'm paraphrasing. I'm not quoting this directly and it may not be from mark Twain. Don't. Quote me on any of this, but a great writer once said, and I'm paraphrasing that an easy way to to deal with the word very is to change all of the instances of very, to the word.
[00:05:55] Damn. And then your editor will remove all of the times you swore in your manuscript, and it's an easy way to get rid of all of it. So very and L Y advert. Oftentimes can simply be deleted if you read your work in progress and you come across all of these L Y adverbs, read it again with the LOI adverbs simply deleted.
[00:06:22] Sometimes the fix is easier than you think. Sometimes we don't have to futz around with $10 words. Or fancy words or consult our thesaurus so that we can still come up with a good verb. Sometimes the verb is okay and the LOI adverb can simply be removed.
[00:06:46] So this was one of the things that I struggled with with my first book as magic shifts, which was released, I think in 2008. As magic shifts took me, I think, 13 months to complete the first draft and my editor, Luanne Staley, who is no longer with us. She passed away a number of years ago. She did exactly what I just described to you.
[00:07:15] She took my manuscript. She didn't have to read it all in order to address some things that I could work on myself to clean up throughout my manuscript. Oftentimes, that can be a big waste of time for both of you. And she addressed my LOI adverbs and what she did was in my document. She actually highlighted them.
[00:07:36] She went through and made them all yellow. And so I had these glaring. From my document and it was obvious to me that I was using them too often. So I invite you to do the same, simply do a search for L Y and see how many instances you use L Y adverbs and work on greatly reducing them. LOI, adverbs, weaken your voice.
[00:08:03] They weaken the strength of your tech. They weaken your pros and they can really get in the way with pacing with the way that the words are flowing and the way that things are unfolding in your story, they can trip you up. And another way, aside from the search that I suggested a moment ago is to read your manuscript out loud.
[00:08:26] If you can tell that you are saying words that. And in the sound Lee too often, and you can tell that it's tripping up the cadence of your sentences and it's tripping up the flow of your words and it's tripping up all the other things that I mentioned. Then you need to remove your L Y adverbs. So replace them with a stronger verb.
[00:08:53] Or just delete them and see how your verb holds up on its own. So that is L Y adverbs for today. This is kind of a shorter episode. Next week, we are going to be focusing on another pitfall, which is too much description. So join me then on the next episode of writing in the tiny house, have a great day guys.
[00:09:18]
[00:09:18] And that is it for today. Just a reminder that "Brigitte,"Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor is available on Amazon as an ebook and on Audible and Apple Books as an audio book. And I provide advanced reader copies of these short stories as I release them to my patrons. So become a patron today by visiting patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse to support both my writing and this podcast. And lastly, be sure to follow me on social media. My Instagram is @authordevindavis and my Twitter handle is@authordevind. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today and have fun writing. We will see you next time.