I’m in a re-blogging mood this week, apparently because you are writing posts I simply can’t resist.
I made the mistake of re-blogging this excellent post about adverbs and adjectives to my private ‘lessons’ blog (where I file teaching posts I want to save), only to discover I cannot now re-blog it here. Aspiring writers will appreciate this ‘lesson’.
I struggle with the whole ‘show; don’t tell’ concept – not fully understanding or embracing it. Of the many ‘expert’ posts I’ve read on the topic, Jamie’s is the most succinct and specific, and includes the best examples of how to use adverbs and adjectives to spice our writing.
I’ve wanted to give a shout-out to this group of professional writers – New Hampshire Writers’ Network – who blog at Live to Write – Write to Live.
While I enjoy all the writers on that site, I salivate every Saturday morning while reading Jamie’s regular Saturday post.
If you read today’s post, please use your time commenting there instead of here. Enjoy and learn !
bemuzin 
Comments on: "Jamie’s Magical Modifiers" (12)
Excellent post, Sammy. Will go over to Jamie’s as well, but wanted to say thanks for sharing. Learn as we might every single day, and there is still so much to learn in various different ways. Learn on (should be my motto for this new year). 🙂
Thanks, Silvia. Lots to learn, but it’s nice when someone like Jamie finds a way to synthesize it so it makes sense!
Thanks for the suggestion, Sammy! I’m excited to learn some new writing tricks.
Yes. all I have to do is look at older posts and see what I could do differently! You already do use adjectives and adverbs effectively, Jen!
Thanks for the link and I did leave a comment there. But I also wanted to say that I share your distrust of “show, don’t tell.” Jamie’s suggestion to create friction with your adverbs probably applies to telling as well. It’s fine as long as you’re telling it in an interesting and friction-filled way. Maybe?
Her ‘friction’ paragraph and examples were an ‘a ha’ moment for me. I’m no longer going to fret about ‘show; don’t tell”, rather I’ll focus on choosing effective adverbs and adjectives. (i hope good intentions counts!!).
They have a great site over there. I’ll be going back to read more. Thanks for the heads-up!
I’m glad you liked it, Lori!
Odd you can’t reblog on two other blogs. I’ll just have to try that out on the Mac later. Not always easy to do things on the iPad.
I’ve learnt in my writing courses not to overuse adjektive and adverbs. Some, sometimes, of course. You have to have them. But you also have to leave interpretations and such to the reader. To his or hers imagination. To fill in from our hints. That’s how to create a feeling, of showing instead of tellIng.
It’s very easy to overuse adjective and adverbs, and such texts aren’t fun to read. Many are those books I’ve put aside because I’ve found them overdone. And that goes to any word that is unneccessary to the story.
I havn’t yet read this artikel you refer to – later on the Mac 😏 – but I know overdoing things doesn’t make a good story.
We have a saying here in Sweden, “don’t write on the readers nose”. Meaning: don’t tell to much. I don’t know if there is a similar saying in English.
I’m good at “show not tell” and “less is more” when it comes to write a story. But then of course – I usually write them in Swedish…
Thank, Ninna. I love your Sedish saying! I’m not sure we have a similar one in the States.
You are right – ever since Apple released new software, my I-pad and mini I-pad have a lot of glitches.
I liked all that us in Jamie’s lessons because, like you, she (and I) think adverbs and adjectives have a place in writing; they just need to be used more effectively.
Sammy, Thanks so much for sharing my post. You have a great community here. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Jamie. I find the most interesting people through our community 😊