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An obvious lesson in writing

August 2, 2010 by Nicole 10 Comments

A short and helpful post today!
Obvious.  Is this a word you use in your writing?  i.e ‘it was obvious she was into him’
Ahhhhh but was it?  Or did you just tell your reader it was obvious rather than showing them.  Obvious and any form of the word needs to be critically regarded during your re-writes.  I expect you’ll find as I am that it frequently gets crossed out.  I don’t think I’ve found one to be necessary yet.  And it’s all thanks to this very smart quote from Michael Crichton’s book Travels.

“Be careful about ‘obviously’.  If it’s really obvious you don’t need to say it, and if it’s not obvious it’s insulting to say that it is”
Which has me biting my lip in annoyance at every ‘obvious’ or ‘obviously’ that I discover in my MS.  So here it is another WIP tip for things to watch for when re-writing your MS.
If it’s obvious you won’t need that word. 
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Filed Under: Pre 2016 posts Tagged With: Uncategorized, Writing tips

Comments

  1. Kris & Kels says

    August 2, 2010 at 8:28 am

    First, I LOVE the title of your blog. Second, YES. That is all that needs saying.
    Thanks for stumbling across me, I'm glad, now I can explore your blog 🙂

    <3 Kelsey Leigh

    Reply
  2. Nicole MacDonald says

    August 2, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Hi Kels! Thanks and welcome to my blog 🙂 I enjoyed reading yours today, looking forward to the next post!

    Reply
  3. AlphaChick says

    August 2, 2010 at 10:19 am

    Seconded on the title! And I love the tag line even more 🙂

    This is a great post. On the train to work this morning I read an article on 'Show, don't tell' being the first rule of writing, and that certainly applies here.

    Maybe you could use 'obvious' in an ironic sense – i.e. 'It was obvious she was in to him' from his POV, if you've previously made it obvious through your writing that she isn't! What do you reckon?

    Reply
  4. Aubrie says

    August 2, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    Oh! You're right! It is telling and not showing. Hmmm…back to the drawing board for me!

    Reply
  5. Janel says

    August 2, 2010 at 1:38 pm

    Crichton made a very good point that I've never thought of. I don't think I use obviously often, but I'm going to be on the look-out for it from now on. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply
  6. Kelly Dexter says

    August 2, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    This is an excellent point that I can't believe never occurred to me. I will most definitely be checking my manuscripts.

    Reply
  7. Angie says

    August 2, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    Great tip! "Obvious" is obviously one to get rid of. 😉

    Reply
  8. Kerrin says

    August 2, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    a good tip but i think if someone uses it in speech, it is allowed.
    "Obviously!"
    🙂

    Reply
  9. Nicole MacDonald says

    August 3, 2010 at 7:34 am

    @ AlphaChick – maybe in a speech.. but it might not register well otherwise 🙂

    And I'm glad you all found it helpful 🙂

    Reply
  10. Jolene says

    August 3, 2010 at 4:19 pm

    Good point, I now have yet another word to watch for.

    Reply

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