More Adjectives

Is your character--let's call him Bob--short, thin, stingy, tardy, and lazy? If so, your character has just had five adjectives to describe him. 

Adjectives--words that describe a noun--are important in our writing. But we can overdo them. 

The right adjective helps our readers "see" the world we're creating in our story. 

How would you describe this tree? 

green

mossy

dark

old

mysterious

wide

shadowy

tall

fragrant

spectacular

The list could go on and on. Some adjectives describe what the tree looks like: green, mossy, dark.

Other adjectives describe how we feel about the tree: mysterious, spectacular. 

For our character Bob, or for a tree in your story, one adjective, the right adjective, may be enough.

Bob was a trusty friend. 

The mossy tree dominated the yard. 

Play with adjectives. Have fun with them. They're one more tool in your writer's box of wonders. Try to find the adjective that conveys exactly what you want to say. 

For more about adjectives, see my earlier post in Yellow Pencils. 

Yellow: an adjective! 

Adjectives

Adjectives are those great words that describe things. They can be short: wet, dry, thick, thin, pink, green (or short). They can be long: wonderful, extraordinary, shadowy. They can be "show-off" words: splendiferous, iridescent, capacious.

Whether the adjectives you use are big or small, it's a good idea to have them in your writing for a reason. Adjectives have a job to do. Choosing the right adjective is the difference between something being tall or something being gigantic. Big difference.

What adjectives would you use to describe the cactuses (or cacti) above? Some adjectives may simply describe the cactuses physically:

thorny

prickly

sharp

spiky

spiny

Other adjectives may show how your character feels about the cactuses:

dangerous

friendly

charming

stately

Find an object outside or in your house. It could be a stop sign or your bathroom faucet. Describe the object using one or two adjectives. Will you use adjectives that describe the object physically? (a tall, red stop sign) Or will you use adjectives that use emotion? (a sad, battered stop sign)

Does a stop sign need to be described with adjectives? After all, everyone knows what a stop sign looks like. Do you need to tell your reader that it's red? Or is there something different about this particular stop sign? Is it muddy, faded, or rusty?

Have fun playing with long, short, moody, silly adjectives in your writing.