It is a word that is used too often by people who try to emphasise an object, person or action within their work. When writing, it is difficult to try and avoid using the word ‘very’, but it can sometimes seem the right way to get your point across.
Using this word can appear lazy and amateurish, especially when there is a vast array of alternative words that mean the same thing. This is a collection of alternatives that I have put together and would encourage anyone to try and use where possible instead of their ‘very’ counterpart.
There comes a moment in every writer’s journey where confidence quietly turns into suspicion. You’ve finished your manuscript.You’ve edited it.Maybe you’ve even rewritten large chunks . . .
Every writer eventually faces the same uncomfortable question. If a reader opened your book and read only the first page… would they keep going? It . . .
Every writer knows the feeling. You have an idea — maybe a character, a world, or a fragment of a scene — but when you . . .
There’s a delicious, tingling moment in every novel-in-progress where the story goes from blank space to spark. It’s the whisper of a character you don’t . . .