Paul Whybrow
Full Member
In writing. Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, Instead of telling us a thing was "terrible", describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your reader, "Please will you do my job for me."
C.S. Lewis
(letter to Joan Lancaster, 26 June 1956)
C.S. Lewis
(letter to Joan Lancaster, 26 June 1956)