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!
