Those shoulder shots can be fatal, too (I may or may not have already included a fatal shoulder shot in my WIP). Bullets, it seems, are pretty dangerous.
I went through a phase where I tried to kill every "said" in my manuscript, and it turned out that they still work if used in moderation. I'm with you: I don't like the "he said angrily" construction with the superfluous adverb. You can usually get the idea based on what he said, or on the circumstances. I love action tags, but they can get out of hand (he nodded, she shrugged, they smiled, he scratched their ear, she banged her head against the wall, they did a pirouette, flipped through the air, and landed on their head...). If I can cut out the tags and still make it clear who's speaking, I almost always do.
I'm looking forward to reading your final version of Declan Shaw's debut novel. The draft I read totally bowled me over!
Another ‘writerly’ write, Martine. And yes, that adjective was intentional! Adverbs stick like bubble gum and scraping them off is sticky business! You could have your hero shot in the arm but then they’d nearly bleed out from an artery. And mess up their nerves. And bones. 😉
Martine, as always, I enjoyed this post and the thoughts you shared - and the mention you made of Shotgun Honey sure brought back memories for me. - Jim
So... You do your own proofreading, or just happened to catch this typo? Or both? ;)
Those shoulder shots can be fatal, too (I may or may not have already included a fatal shoulder shot in my WIP). Bullets, it seems, are pretty dangerous.
I went through a phase where I tried to kill every "said" in my manuscript, and it turned out that they still work if used in moderation. I'm with you: I don't like the "he said angrily" construction with the superfluous adverb. You can usually get the idea based on what he said, or on the circumstances. I love action tags, but they can get out of hand (he nodded, she shrugged, they smiled, he scratched their ear, she banged her head against the wall, they did a pirouette, flipped through the air, and landed on their head...). If I can cut out the tags and still make it clear who's speaking, I almost always do.
I'm looking forward to reading your final version of Declan Shaw's debut novel. The draft I read totally bowled me over!
Another ‘writerly’ write, Martine. And yes, that adjective was intentional! Adverbs stick like bubble gum and scraping them off is sticky business! You could have your hero shot in the arm but then they’d nearly bleed out from an artery. And mess up their nerves. And bones. 😉
I'd reverse it:
He laughed. "You don't mean that, do you?" The laugh and the speaking are connected by separate.
My work is done here.
:-)
Great issue, Martine! Looking forward to reading your stories in these anthos.
I'm looking forward to you forthcoming novel!
Thank you, I always love a peek at the writer's process.
Martine, as always, I enjoyed this post and the thoughts you shared - and the mention you made of Shotgun Honey sure brought back memories for me. - Jim