{"id":837,"date":"2006-02-26T10:41:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-26T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/?p=837"},"modified":"2006-02-26T10:41:00","modified_gmt":"2006-02-26T17:41:00","slug":"words-of-the-wise-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Words of the wise one"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Never open a book with weather.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And so much more. My favorite part:<\/p>\n

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.<\/p>\n

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated,” and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.<\/p>\n

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” . . .<\/p>\n

. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Heh heh.<\/p>\n

(Yeah, I slip and do it sometimes. But not very often at all, as this particular lesson was burned into my brain after reading the version of it that James Blish points-and-laughs at in one of his books of SF criticism written as “William Atheling”: “‘Good morning,’ he pole-vaulted.”)<\/p>\n

Tags: adverbs<\/a>, they should know their place<\/a>, Elmore Leonard<\/a>, James Blish<\/a>, said-booking<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Never open a book with weather. And so much more. My favorite part: 3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nWords of the wise one - Out of Ambit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Words of the wise one - Out of Ambit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Never open a book with weather. And so much more. My favorite part: 3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Out of Ambit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/OOA-2024-Default-Featured-Image-Take-1-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Diane Duane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dduane\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Diane Duane\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/ff54e1fb35d68dee5a5bf83f6070e2d1\"},\"headline\":\"Words of the wise one\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\"},\"wordCount\":211,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\",\"name\":\"Words of the wise one - Out of Ambit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/\",\"name\":\"Out of Ambit\",\"description\":\"Diane Duane's weblog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8\",\"name\":\"Diane Duane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DD_avatar_2016_bg.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DD_avatar_2016_bg.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Diane Duane\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/dduane\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/ff54e1fb35d68dee5a5bf83f6070e2d1\",\"name\":\"Diane Duane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d306027f6d44c1213f53b6912f027d6bde1b1c5c73748571ab976afc999e917e?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d306027f6d44c1213f53b6912f027d6bde1b1c5c73748571ab976afc999e917e?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Diane Duane\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Words of the wise one - Out of Ambit","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Words of the wise one - Out of Ambit","og_description":"Never open a book with weather. And so much more. My favorite part: 3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/","og_site_name":"Out of Ambit","article_published_time":"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/OOA-2024-Default-Featured-Image-Take-1-1024x576.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Diane Duane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@dduane","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/"},"author":{"name":"Diane Duane","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/ff54e1fb35d68dee5a5bf83f6070e2d1"},"headline":"Words of the wise one","datePublished":"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/"},"wordCount":211,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8"},"articleSection":["Writing"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/","name":"Words of the wise one - Out of Ambit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-02-26T17:41:00+00:00","inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2006\/02\/26\/words-of-the-wise-one\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/","name":"Out of Ambit","description":"Diane Duane's weblog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/c95a368813271f614d9104b74dfd83d8","name":"Diane Duane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DD_avatar_2016_bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DD_avatar_2016_bg.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Diane Duane"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/dduane"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/ff54e1fb35d68dee5a5bf83f6070e2d1","name":"Diane Duane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d306027f6d44c1213f53b6912f027d6bde1b1c5c73748571ab976afc999e917e?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d306027f6d44c1213f53b6912f027d6bde1b1c5c73748571ab976afc999e917e?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Diane Duane"},"url":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}