The Spice of Writing...

My Grandma used to tell me that spices could make or break a dish. True! But don't be fooled-- over-spicing can be just as fatal as under-spicing.

Same with writing...

Lesson: "More isn't always better... sometimes it's just more." (Character of Sabrina Fairchild). 

How do you hone your writing to find the "just right" amount of descriptors?

Modifiers weren't built for heavy lifting. Period.

After I proudly showed my husband this masterpiece I concocted today, he drew me a picture of a truly strong verb...

Lesson: strong verbs don't need a crew of munchkin adverbs to carry them. Maybe just a spotter- adverb every now and then...

Consider:

The very young, quite small boy ran rather speedily.

vs.

The youngin' bolted.

The youngin' wins!

CHECK OUT: Elements of Style (Strunk & White) Chapter V, section 4 (p. 71) for a short explanation whose eloquence rivals this plucky illustration by quirkygrammar.blogspot.com.