7/28/2019 Why Suddenly is a Four-Letter Word

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What’s one of the most overused, least-needed words in a writer’s repertoire?Try “suddenly.”

At first glance, “suddenly” seems pretty innocuous. After all, it’s just a littleadverb. It’s so commonplace, it’s almost invisible. And it’s important. Unlike somany useless modifiers, it tells readers exactly how some important action ishappening. It provides a handy bridge between two actions, the latter of which

is completely unexpected.

What’s the matter with “suddenly”?

Here’s the thing about “suddenly”: it’s almost always unneeded. More than that,it has this ironic tendency to mitigate the very effect it’s trying to create. If something happens suddenly , its very suddenness is proven by its abruptoccurrence. Consider, for example:

The moon rose above the hill, pale and serene. I sat on the roadsideand watched it shed its light across the hay fields. From within thetrees, the smoke from my brothers’ campfire wafted, blue-gray, to

join the last cirrus clouds of the day. I settled onto a fallen log.

Suddenly, from within the trees, a branch cracked. I sat up straightand gooseflesh pimpled my skin.

Why is your writing stronger without “suddenly”?

This doesn’t look so bad on the surface. But what is “suddenly” adding to thisscene? That branch certainly didn’t crack un-suddenly. It happens without

warning. The character has been caught off guard. So why is the author warningthe readers? Why not let readers experience the abruptness of the crackingbranch right alongside the character?

The moon rose above the hill, pale and serene. I sat on the roadsideand watched it shed its light across the hay fields. From within thetrees, the smoke from my brothers’ campfire wafted, blue-gray, to

join the last cirrus clouds of the day. I settled onto a fallen log.

Why “Suddenly” Is a Four-Letter Word

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7/28/2019 Why Suddenly is a Four-Letter Word

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From within the trees, a branch cracked. I sat up straight andgooseflesh pimpled my skin.

By deleting “suddenly,” we maintain the scene’s clarity, while giving it just alittle extra punch. The new paragraph and the strong verb convey the sense of abruptness to the reader by way of showing instead of telling. Readers probably

won’t even notice when you delete “suddenly,” but they will unconsciouslyrespond to the tighter writing.

When should you use “suddenly”?

Does that mean that all instances of “suddenly” should be hacked ruthlessly?Not at all. “Suddenly” still has its uses, one of which is poetic rhythm.Sometimes sentences will sound better for retaining “suddenly”—but alwaysdouble-check. More often than not, when an author feels the “suddenly” ishelpful, it really isn’t adding much of anything.

You might also find “suddenly” useful in sentences that indicate a character’sabrupt change of mind. Compare the following examples:

“What are you doing?” Sam looked around, aware of how manypeople could overhear them.

“What are you doing?” Sam looked around, suddenly aware of howmany people could overhear them.

In the first example, Sam appears to have been aware of the listening ears right

from the start. But if your intent is to show he’s only just realizing the potentialfor eavesdroppers as he’s looking around, then “suddenly” is just the trick youneed.

Don’t be afraid of using “suddenly” when your story calls for it. But keep in mindthat you’ll be better off without it more often than not.

About the Author : K.M. Weiland grew up chasingBilly the Kid and Jesse James on horseback through

the sand hills of western Nebraska, where she stilllives. A lifelong fan of history and the power of thewritten word, she enjoys sharing both through hernovels and short stories. Visit her blog Wordplay:Helping Writers Become Authors to read her takeon the writing life.

www.kmweiland.comwww.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com