Words I Hate: “Seem”
Seem:–verb (used without object)1. to appear to be, feel, do, etc.: She seems better this morning.2. to appear to one’s own senses, mind, observation, judgment, etc.: It seems to me that someone is calling.3. to appear to exist: There seems no need to go now.4. to appear to be true, probable, or evident: It seems likely to rain.5. to give the outward appearance of being or to pretend to be: He only seems friendly because he wants you to like him.
All right, so the hazards of the word “seem” are a pretty elementary issue to “educated” writers, but I’m not an educated writer, and this blog isn’t geared for them.
The rest of us could use a friendly warning that this word is not just insidious, but robs us of opportunity. It’s everywhere in our speech, a product of our growing reluctance as a society to make claims that can be proven wrong. “She seems to like it” saves us from making an actual judgment call and later being proved wrong. No one likes to be embarrassed. This pervacity (a word I just made up) makes it difficult for an unpracticed writer to catch instances of the word in his or her narration, moreso when the narration is a close third-person from one character’s point of view.
And why would a writer want to catch instances of it? If we use the word all the time, isn’t it natural to put it into our writing?
Here we enter into another little bit of Zen Writing which warrants its own post at a later date. In brief: as much as my personal style of writing gets as close in on a character as possible without actually being first person, I am acutely aware that the story is essentially second-hand. The mechanics of the story don’t have opinions on what happens. Third person narration can’t tell the difference between someone doing one thing and seeming another. It’s up to the reader to make the jump. It’s up to the writer to prompt the jump with facts. Which brings us to:
The word “seem” robs a writer of the opportunity to act. What’s more interesting? “She seemed to like it” or “She looked up, eyes shining, mouth grinning, but her shoulders drooped tellingly.” Relying on “seem” to make the reader’s mind up is a trap to be avoided. Go through and pick them out, and see if there are ways to illustrate how something seemed to be how you’ve described it.
Exceptions. As with any “rule,” there are exceptions.
Yeah. As I said, we say “seem” a lot. Because our real life stories aren’t second hand, we don’t narrate having noticed things. This instinct can translate reasonably to dialogue and first person or even close-third person pov. In dialogue, it reads as uncommitted and unsure, so use caution. First person stories are obviously dependent on the opinion of the viewpoint character. I would encourage in that case having the narrator notice things and then come to the conclusion that the target may not actually be happy or whathaveyou. And if the person really is happy? Unless the narrator really feels she might be lying, just say she’s happy for cryin’ out loud. This is the writer’s equivalent of the advice given to brand new actors – don’t edge onto the stage sideways, taking little uncertain steps. The audience will see you’re nervous. Have a goal and take certain steps to get to it. No one will know how terrified you are. I promise.
