Today I'm going to share a quote by Mark Twain, mainly because I like it and have been waiting for just the right time to post it (but also because it was foggy day schedule for the girls at school and I'm two hours off schedule already).

"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

~Mark Twain

He makes a few good points, no? Happy Friday, my readers!

Views: 0

Comment

You need to be a member of She Writes to add comments!

Join She Writes

Jessica Brooks Comment by Jessica Brooks on January 16, 2010 at 2:19pm
I know Megan, it's so true! Weird, really. Maybe the whole point of that was to add new words to our vocabularies.
M Rudolph Comment by M Rudolph on January 16, 2010 at 12:38pm
This takes me back to the days of grade school English class. I distinctly remember my teachers telling us to use lots of adjectives when we were describing something. Isn't it funny how we first learn to write in school, but then have to "unlearn" it in order to become better writers? So, in answer to your question: yes, Twain makes some good points.

Latest Activity

Profile Icon
Komal Mansoor commented on the group 'Social Networking'
Hello friends, Join in the fun with me and Juliette as we talk about romance, chocolates, chick-lit, valentine's day favorite movies, books and much more! Oh yeah, she is giving away 3 copies of her latest release, "Kissed in Paris".…
23 minutes ago
Profile Icon
Komal Mansoor commented on the group 'ALL roMANce'
Hello friends, Join in the fun with me and Juliette as we talk about romance, chocolates, chick-lit, valentine's day favorite movies, books and much more! Oh yeah, she is giving away 3 copies of her latest release, "Kissed in Paris".…
34 minutes ago
Profile Icon

ALL roMANce

Thumbnail
A place for the romantics to meet and discuss all things romanctic!
Komal Mansoor joined a group 34 minutes ago
Profile Icon
Sonja Benskin Mesher shared their blog post on StumbleUpon 1 hour ago

Members

  • Josephine Carr
  • Debbie Rushby
  • Svetlana Watkins
  • Komal Mansoor
  • Kat Ward
  • MaryLynn Bast
  • Sonja Benskin Mesher
  • Jacqueline (Jackie) A. Jones
  • Shirley Kiger Connolly
  • Juliet Greenwood
  • Paige Polcene
  • Jayrod Garrett
  • Karen
  • Tara Pantalone
  • Cate Russell-Cole
  • Mariah Deitrick
  • Melinda Gallo
  • Pat Carroll Marcantel
  • Dera R Williams
  • samantha stacia
  • Teicha Hill Mailhes
  • Robyn Oyeniyi
  • Debra Shawcross Farmer
  • Susan McBeth
  • Monica Medina
  • Anuschka de la Court
  • Nancy Mueller
  • Cris Beam
  • Deb Lewis
  • Brenda Moguez

Badge

Loading…

© 2012   Created by Kamy Wicoff.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service