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editing, editing tips, Strong vs Weak Words, Strong Words, Weak Verbs, Weak Words, writers, writing, Writing Advice, writing tips
Ack! Vacation Interruptus
We were enjoying a lovely vacation day at the cabin yesterday until our neighbor called. Our house alarm was blasting. The alarm is monitored, or so we thought, so I waited for a call from the alarm company who would then dispatch the Sheriff to check the house. No call, so I called them. They didn’t receive a signal that our alarm went off.
Long, boring story short, I hopped in the car and made the 1 1/2 hour drive home to see what the problem was. Today, I am waiting for the alarm company to come between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00. (Yeah, right. Service companies always say that, and then show up at 5:30.)
But . . . lucky for you, waiting for the alarm company gives me time to torture you with a Strong vs Weak Word post! You lucky, lucky people, you!
Now, don’t “look” at me that way. That’s not nice.
There are many ways to look AT someone/something. (A future post will take a “look” at looking FOR someone/something.)
The look in their eye said they would sell their soul for a morsel of Robin’s wisdom.
Oh. Come. On.
The evil glint in their eye scared Robin off.
~~~~~
I looked at Robin’s writing and vowed to emulate her style.
My advice is to look elsewhere.
I tore apart Robin’s writing advice and realized it was all lies. Lies I tell you!
~~~~~
The agent looked at Robin like she was a stalker.
Robin stalked me.
The agent eyed Robin and decided to call the police.
~~~~~
Robin looked stunned when they slapped the handcuffs on her.
I’m surprised. She knows the drill.
Robin reeled and threw a right hook at the police officer.
Robin Coyle 
Reblogged this on Trey Mckinney Posts.
If you were British I would nominate you for an MBE or something for services towards eliminating weak words. (I can explain further if required).
This is one of the words I noticed crept into my writing so already strive to seek and destroy before I type the final K. I’m glad one of my hated words made it onto your list.
Does that mean you would like to knight me? How delightful! I’d look good in a suit of armor.
So “look” was already on your list. Are there other words I should know about?
Sort of a lower level honour. But services to weak words should be recognised somehow 🙂
My list does contain the nasty LOOK. So easy to keep using it as well.
Not sure whether you’ve mentioned these already BUT and THOUGH creep into my work. Like all the words you’ve highlighted, in context and used sparingly they are fine. I have been known to overuse those two. A LOT.
My wife once read a short story I’d written and underlined all the THOUGH words. On one page I had about 11 of the blighters.
I started my list that day!
Ack! A few days ago I decided to stay home in the heat and actually use my air conditioner. Previously I had been exploring many of our libraries during the heat of the day since they are designated “cool zones.” My air conditioner decided that it wasn’t going to cool the place down. Called for help and the company said they could come out “tomorrow between noon and 3:00 p.m.” Ha! I called at 2:50 p.m. “You’re next.” Called at 3:50 p.m., 4:50 p.m., 5:50 p.m. Finally they showed up at 6:25 p.m. I was so furious that I simply let them diagnose what was wrong, thanked them, paid them the service charge, and then went to buy the parts at Home Depot and fixed the thing myself. All’s well, and I saved $385 doing it that way although I didn’t get to do much blogging, reading, or commenting that day……lol
It is so maddening when that happens. If they had common courtesy, they would call to say they are running behind and give you updates, or the opportunity to cancel the service call. Good for you for fixing the A/C yourself!
Look at this, I’m so behind in reading WordPress posts… it looks like I’m ignoring Robin 😉 But yes, I hadn’t realised how many better/other ways there are to write “look” 🙂
Lookie here! It’s Ella Dee!
I like the post, I don’t like that you had to be interrupted from your vacation 😦 Best!
The vacation resumes!
You should have stopped at the end of the alarm story – only joking. This one reminds me of the adverbs people use to describe speech, which are usually not required.
I know what you mean. The words in the dialogue should indicate that the person speaking in angry, sad, or whatever . . . rather than adding a “He said bitterly.”
Part 31? I’m beginning to think that every word is weak.
I’ll leave you with a dozen or so words. But then, we will all be stuck with writing haiku. Not that there is anything wrong with that . . .
It might be easier if you just tell me which words are OK.
Persimmon, coconut, and pathetic. Let’s see your haiku!
Damn. I’ll need some time.
Take your time. I’ll be waiting.
As soon as you have a spare minute, you think of us. Now thats dedication!
Thank you, Robin
I must attend to my adoring fan base! 🙂
The closing olympic ceremony comes to mind….’always look on the bright side of life’…..
Yup . . . the bright side is our house wasn’t broken into!
I had 150 of these! I ended up adding a list of alternatives to my notebook, but I love how *you* don’t just find alternatives – you change sentences to show action! It’s so easy to be lazy and LOOK at someone or something. … Hope you’re back to vacation now!
I’m back at the cabin as of 5:00 last night. Yeah!
My characters spent a ton of time “looking” at the situation, rather than being a part of it. It is fun to play with the words to, as you say, show action.
Have you tackled your 150 looks yet? If so, how did it go?
I actually pitched a lot of them. I was shocked (aren’t I always) at the use of “at me,” at him,” “at her” following the word looked. Completely unnecessary. I used noticed, observed, ogled, peered, scanned, stared, frowned, gawked, etc. – other ways to observe a situation or look around a room. It’s definitely a word a want to pay more attention to going forward.
Good for you! “Gawking” is much more interesting than a bland “look.” Hope you had fun with it . . . in the wee hours of the morning!
A terrific lesson/reminder — I needed this one!
Glad you like it!
made good use of your time – what a pro you are –I probably would have taken a nap
Ha! I considered a nap!
considering and doing are two different things Ms. Robin
Well, I’m glad you’ve put your time to good use! I hope they didn’t keep you waiting too long, and that you’re back to enjoying your getaway! It’s rotten to have it interrupted in that unfortunate manner!
I am back at the cabin as of 5:00 last night . . . right in time for cocktails!
🙂 Glad to hear it! 🙂
Hee, hee, you know the drill. Giggling. Hope you’re back enjoying your vacation by now.
Glad I made you giggle! Yup . . . I’m back in the mountains. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh.
Glad it wasn’t a real break-in. I’m such a worrier on vacation, and to get a call like that would be the worst feeling.
Ahem, look, are you sure there are any words we can use? I KNOW this is one I have to clean up!
I had a pit in my stomach while driving home. Walking into the house was eerie, but I figured if someone broke in, they would be long gone.
I promise to leave you with a word or two. Archeology and time travel are acceptable.
OMG I love this, but sorry about your vaca being interrupted. What a bummer. I just hope I can remember all these while I’m writing. But you’ll let me know if I didn’t, right? 🙂
Vacation is back on track as of 5:00 last night. No harm, no foul.
I will let you know. Now that our vacation has resumed, I can crack open your book!
Okay, I’m adding ‘look’ to my list of weak words to squelch.
Sorry about your vaca. I hope you get to return to it soon!
Please don’t count them in the draft I just sent you! I haven’t addressed the weak words yet. 🙂 (I plan on doing them in one big pass on a more polished version.)
Aye, Aye, Captain. 😉
Ah ha! We have some writing-swapping going on. That is so cool!
What a bummer for you (but wonderful for us because we got another of your gems) 🙂
Nothing worse than thinking some creep may have been in your home:(
Time to go back through my work and look for look!
Since there have been a handful of break-ins in our neighborhood recently, it was quite concerning. A gal two doors down had her front door smashed in at 1:00 in the morning. Luckily, I think we have a bad sensor in a window.
Let me know how looking for look goes! It is a fun word to swap out.
Oh hey! The alarm company just pulled up. Yeah, let the vacation re-begin!
Woo hoo – happy holiday!
On the subject of break-ins. I had some random sneak into my kitchen one evening and steal my handbag while I was in another room! We have two large dogs and he ran the gauntlet past them and jumped over the fence. After that I got security cameras around the house (and the dogs didn’t eat steak that night!)
Have a great holiday – starting…..NOW
That is so scary! While you were in the house?!?! Yikes. That must have freaked you out. Did you get any of your purse contents back?
No – it was never found. My glasses, keys, credit cards license – everything. SO annoying 😦
They tried to use my cards within 20 minutes but I’d already been on the phone reporting them stolen – so all they got was the five dollars cash in my purse (hope they had a big night out with that) 😀
Bastards. They got a coke and a hot dog for their troubles.
Haha – yes I wanted to call them that, too!
Yay, a bonus post from Robin!
You can thank my alarm company for that! That is, if they ever show up . . . Sigh.
“Look” on the bright side. It could have been 4 or 5 hours away! 😉
Here’s “looking” at you.
Ha ha ha . . . you are so funny. I always “look” to you to make me smile.
Touche’
Oh, you poor thing. I can’t believe you had to drive back. That really blows. But I’m glad everything was okay, and your house wasn’t looted. 🙂
I’m a bit nervous to read anymore of your weak word posts now that my edits are in. So I’ll just pretend they don’t affect me. 😉
Actually, this is a good one. My editor noted a fair number of fancy movements with my characters’ eyes. In other words, I used things like “they locked eyes” or “she lifted her eyes” or other such things. As my editor mentioned, eyes tend to stay put in one’s head. They cannot leap across the room (thank goodness mine never did), nor can they “lock” onto someone else’s (guilty as charged). So, now, I probably have more “looked at”s then I should and even more use of the word “gaze.”
Oh, well, such is life.
Walking into the house was rather eerie, but I figured that since the alarm went off 2 hours prior, the bad guy (if there was one) would be long gone. So strange that the alarm went off. No open doors or windows. They suspect a bad sensor.
I had a lot of “He looked me in the eye and said-s,” “I looked around the room-s,” and the like. My characters spend a good deal of their day “looking.” It was fun to put the action in instead.
How do I get a copy of your book when it comes out? Are you planning a launch party? What time should I be there?
Nothing quite so fancy. In fact, I’m guessing its release will be a surprise to both you and me given I’ve been told only that it will be released in September. I’ve got some planned posts on the topic coming soon.
Well I think a party is in order!
Well, I do have some tequila from Mexico…
There you go! PARTY at Carrie’s!
How annoying!
(About the alarm I mean, not about your latest lesson on weak words 😉 )
I’ll hazard the post was annoying too!
It looks like you need to get back to Lake Tahoe and enjoy your vacation. 🙂
Seriously! Watching the clock til 2:00!