6/15/10

Suddenly, Suddenly Isn't Necessary

Suddenly, she realized that 2000 words had yet to be written.
Suddenly, she realized it was time to blog.
Suddenly, she also realized that the dryer was going off.
Suddenly, she realized that people were leaving the house, which meant it was a perfect time to clean all the floors without feet tramping everywhere.
Suddenly, she was overwhelmed.
Suddenly, she whirled around in her chair and let forth something like a feral scream.

Okay, so 'suddenly' suddenly isn't all that interesting. I think the Creepy Query Girl first said that,
"...any phrase that starts with ‘Suddenly’ isn’t so sudden."
Suddenly, she was right. If someone is whirling around, they're obviously doing it 'suddenly,' or else they would just be 'turning around,' slowly, confidently, absently - whatever. But 'whirled' and 'suddenly' is redundant.

Suddenly, 'suddenly' is redundant. And it usually is. Really, do you suddenly need a 'suddenly' in your sentence? Do you?

Did you know that looking at the same word for one entire blog post makes you wonder how s-u-d-d-e-n-l-y became a word. Because it doesn't look like one anymore.

Suddenly, I've heard a lot about how 'suddenly' isn't necessary. I cocked my head when I heard that, thought about it, and decided to test it out when I went back to MS work. They were right.

Suddenly, I'm going to confess something: 'Suddenly' tempts me! I'm writing happily along when someone turns around, or thinks something, or gasps. And then - 'Suddenly!' They did it 'suddenly'!!!

Suddenly, my face falls because that word is almost banned. Not completely, I use it within reason, but if I notice it - it's out of there.

Suddenly, I thought to myself, "If I can't use 'suddenly,' can I use 'abruptly'?"

Oh yes.
Abruptly, she realized that the thesaurus was amazing.

2 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

hahahah What a GREAT post. It is a crazy word isn't? It sounds so unnatural when it's said over and over ... actually so does every word when it's overused ... I just think getting rid of adverbs altogehter should keep you in check ;o) You don't need them all that often, usually the description of movement itself is enough. 'She turned to face him', she did it, it's done, no need for an adverb there. I think the simple abrupt description says it all. Whatcha reckon?

Ruth Donnelly said...

LOL! I've become aware of "suddenly" as well. Hey, how about "all at once"? All at once, she was sure she had figured out a way to decrease her overuse of trite transitions...