Verbs

There are three things that make a sentence - Subject, Verb, Object.

An adjective can describe the Subject or the Object but an adverb can only describe a Verb.

This means, in any given sentence, there can be two adjectives and one adverb. But no-one ever writes: The sleek cat quietly sat on the fluffy mat.

Even if they did, the adjectives have more character than the adverb. 'Sleek' tells you a lot about the cat - you picture a thin, angular Siamese-type cat, definitely not a Persian. As well as the word having character, it shows you something about the cat's character.

Thin, angular Siamese-type cats would probably wear diamond collars, wouldn't they? Especially when they sit on fluffy mats. Fluffy can be luxurious or cheap and overdone but it tells you something, sets you [the reader] up for something.

So what does 'quietly sat' tell the reader?

Nothing.

What does: lounged, lolled, languished, or perched tell them?

Lots more!

I was at a two-day workshop recently led by Prof. Sam Ham from the States. It was about Thematic Communication - how to centre your writing or message around a theme and so change peoples behaviour or make them think.

He said that he had spent an entire night going through one of those big, thick dictionaries and wrote down every verb he could find in it. He said it was one of the most valuable resources he had. And that the majority of verbs start with the letter 'S'.

I challenge everyone to go through their dictionaries. Go - seek your verbs!