Dana's Magic and Mayhem: Edits and As's and Adverbs

I have a problem. I am addicted to two little letters: "ly". Apparently I've run up too much a charge at Lolly's Adverb Store, and I need to cut back on my spending. They're sending a big burly man to repossess the words "softly", "gently" and "slowly". I've been told that I need to join Adverbs Anonymous due to my abuse of those two poor little letters. Maybe someday they'll even forgive me.

See? I did it again! (Is the man going to repossess "burly" too? Cause I kinda like that one.)

You know, when I'm writing I don't quite realize how many times I use the word "as", either. I'm in first run edits on Dare to Believe, my first Gray Court novel, and "as" appears at least four times a page! I'm only on page 40 and spent an entire day doing nothing but rewriting most of the spots "as" shows up in. I think I've added almost a thousand words just eliminating that one!

Is there an As's Anonymous? Because I think I might have to attend their meetings, too. (Wait, As's? That didn't come out right...)

Feh. Off to do my morning stretches before I once again tackle The Battle of the As's. Seriously. I need help.

Favorite Quotes

"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability." Ron White

"So let me get this straight. You want me to kill the little guys, kill the big guys, crowd control those I can't, buff the team, debuff the boss, keep myself alive, AND keep you alive, all while waving a stick and dressed in a towel?" - Anonymous Role Playing Gamer

"I think that statue over there is a statement on modern life. The statement is, "Well, shit." - Varric, Dragon Age II

"Why is it all claws and guns? Can't we piss off a fuzzy planet? Still dangerous, but hey. Bunnies." - Joker, Mass Effect

"Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?" - Dilbert

"Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success." - Annie Oakley

"It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." - Flemeth, aka The Witch of the Wilds, Dragon Age 2

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.'” - George Carlin

"I hear there's a wild bridge tournament down the street. And you know Bridge. It's a lot like sex. If you don't have a great partner, you'd better have a good hand." Barry Weiss, Storage Wars

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." - Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, "A Late Delivery From Avalon"

"I aim to misbehave." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” - Henry Ford

5 comments:

Brandy W said...: But it is truly funny. I liked "burly" too.; May 26, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Dana Marie Bell said...: Mmm, big and burly... lol!; May 26, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Robert C Roman said...: Would now be a bad or good time to point out that burly appears to be an adjective? It's modifying the noun 'man', not a verb or adjective. Not all words that end in 'ly' are adverbs. For example, 'lolly', which was a noun, specifically a candy on a stick, at least until webspeak got hold of it.; May 27, 2009 at 1:24 AM
Dana Marie Bell said...: Thank you, Mr. Teacher. Ruin a good joke why don't ya. ;P

P.S.: This is my B-I-L and one of my beta readers. And he did NOT have the urge to scrub his eyeballs out with bleach after beta reading Very Much Alive, unlike some people we both know.

P.P.S.: Besides, "burlily" just didn't roll of the tongue, ya know? Who goes around saying burlily? That doesn't sound like a man, it sounds like a flower. YOU try and work "burlily" into a sentence. "He was burlily masculine"?

P.P.P.S.: Seriously? I've just been looking for an excuse to put up the Lolly song. I've had it running around in my head for DAYS. ;D; May 27, 2009 at 7:53 AM
Robert C Roman said...: Hey, I understand completely - it's WAY better than the excuse I would have come up with.

No, you really don't want to know.; May 27, 2009 at 4:55 PM

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Edits and As's and Adverbs

5 comments:

Favorite Quotes