Words You Can Use Instead of “very” to Improve Your Writing
Learning to write is like learning to play an instrument: after you’ve learned the basic rules – grammar, spelling, and punctuation – and started writing technically correct sentences, you still have to conquer a whole world of syntax, diction, and style. And here writers, like musicians, have their own opinions : which is better: to write straightforward prose without excesses or to weave verbal flights of fantasies illustrating complex poetic feelings? Or something in between? For me, diction is a big deal – the writers I admire are precise with their words, and I appreciate neat sentences that get to the point.
This is why I was thrilled to find that this chart encourages writers to eliminate the “very + adjective” as much as possible from their prose and choose a more thoughtful substitute:
Now it hit my transom via Reddit , so naturally it sparked some controversy: Anyway, who said “very perfect”? And many of us remember that you cannot change the word “unique” -either something is unique or not, so skip the “very” -except, which can be argued that some things are more unique than others. (For example, each grain of sand is unique, but if you come across a tiny model of Michelangelo’s David in a grain of sand, it will be very unique.) Also, sometimes you really mean “very skinny” rather than “Skeletal” – a word that clearly has a different meaning than “skinny”. And finally, many of them are not universal, for example, the cafeteria can legally be deafening, but the children themselves cannot.
However, this is an interesting list to consider, if only to remind the author that finding the exact correct word, like finding the exact correct note on the guitar, is what makes spelling fun and even beautiful. That is beautiful.