And take "made
his way." Please. I once was reading a chapter in a novel and noticed
"made his way" eight times on one page and 40 times in the chapter. The
protagonist didn't walk, strut or stroll. He didn't move, slide, wend or
walk. He didn't even matriculate or hurry. Or stumble and fall.
He just made his way, over and over and over.
It works the same
way when writers use tons of modifiers. Saturn is massive; it can't be
very massive or hugely massive (yes, I'm exaggerating to make a point). A
locomotive is powerful. Very, extremely and all of the modifiers in the
world won't change or add to that.
If a woman is beautiful or stunning or enchanting, will a modifier make her more so?
A woman is
pregnant, not very pregnant (I'd be tempted to say that she's hugely
pregnant, though). And a one-of-a-kind diamond is unique. Very
won't boost it a bit.
Shakespeare
wasn't famous or revered because of his wordiness. He cut his writing to
the core and made every word count. (And, of course, he was one heck of
a writer.)
In fact, you can
pretty much kick the word "very" out of your vocabulary and use powerful
words. Mark Twain suggested that we change every very in our writing to
damn. The editor will take out the damns, and the writing will be as it
should be.
Smart man, that Twain. Very smart.
Oops!><
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