{"id":6521,"date":"2017-04-13T07:40:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T11:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6521"},"modified":"2017-04-13T08:01:22","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T12:01:22","slug":"does-writing-advice-hold-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6521","title":{"rendered":"Does Writing Advice Hold Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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photo: Nick Kenrick, creative commons license<\/p><\/div>\n

Data journalist Ben Blatt has used his quantitative approach to analyzing classic novels and 20th century best-sellers to test whether some of the common advice writers receive is reflected in successful books. (Yesterday, I reported some of his findings about differences in writing by and about men and women<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Numerous authorities\u2014most notably, Stephen King\u2014advise against using \u2013ly adverbs. King goes so far as to say the road to hell is paved with them. Instead, these authorities say, find a more robust verb that can carry your meaning on its own, unaided. Blatt\u2019s example is, instead of \u201cHe ran quickly,\u201d say, \u201cHe sprinted.\u201d Saves words too.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Blatt\u2019s research reveals that more accomplished writers do<\/em> tend to rely on good strong verbs instead of adverbial modifiers. In a chart, he shows that Hemingway used 80 \u2013ly adverbs per 10,000 words, where as E.L James (author of the 50 Shades<\/em> books) used almost twice as many, 155 per 10,000. Here\u2019s one of hers: \u201cMentally girding my loins, I head into the hotel.\u201d A bit hard to visualize there.<\/p>\n

Another precept Blatt tested was Elmore Leonard<\/a>\u2019s avoid-the-banal advice: \u201cNever open a book with weather.\u201d Yet best-seller Danielle Steele starts her books with weather about half the time (46 percent), and even Leonard has done it, maybe twice in 45 novels. By contrast, many literary authors (Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, Toni Morrison, and others) never<\/em> do so, across dozens of books.<\/p>\n

Parlor Game<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a parlor game for you, based on Blatt\u2019s findings (his book has many more). What are the three favorite words of these authors? Can any of your erudite friends come close?<\/p>\n