The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.
– Mark Twain, in a letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888
I once read a rough draft manuscript that contained so many adverbs, I called the author “the ‘ly’ lady.” Overuse of vague qualifiers isn’t confined to new writers. The following passage is from a speech delivered by an educator:
(read more at Fiction Fundamentals…)
