Finding the right adjective
Adjectives are a lot like sugar. Sprinkle a teaspoon of it on your cereal and it's a good time. Upend a whole bag and your mum gets mad and you get cavities. As a writer of either creative or corporate persuasion, you should approach adjectives with a little caution because while the wrong choice won't give you cavities, the right choice can make your writing sing.
Smells beautiful!
What is the "right" adjective?
I used to think the right adjective was the most obscure one, the most inventive or shocking way to describe a thing. For example, I would Google “beautiful synonym” and beeline for the most indecipherable pick of the bunch (“pulchritudinous”). I wanted the reader to say "Wow, this gal can WRITE, she's so LITERARY, she uses words I don't understand and I'm LOVING IT". It should come as no surprise the usual response was actually "What the fuck are you talking about?".
Beautiful isn't a bad adjective, it's just very personal and non-specific. But a tailored adjective is like poetry in motion. When Rudyard Kipling introduced Bagheera in The Jungle Book, he could have said "Bagheera was a beautiful black panther" and gone home for the day.
Instead, he said:
“A black shadow dropped down into the circle. It was Bagheera the Black Panther, inky black all over, but with the panther markings showing up in certain lights like the pattern of watered silk [...] he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.”
Doesn't that just make you want to reach out and touch Bagheera? And then immediately, willingly, be ripped to shreds by his glistening incisors?
Adjectives in everyday writing
This is all very well and good for creative or literary writers. But even creative and literary writers spend most of their time sending emails and writing Google petty reviews. And a cracking adjective can help you in everyday writing too. You might not be describing an inky, downy-soft panther, but you can win friends and influence people all the same.
For example, instead of "Just read the report. I loved it, such good work!" try this — "Just read the report - phenomenal attention to detail. I was completely absorbed by the section on duck husbandry - who knew ducks were polygamous! Thoroughly captivating." Specificity is much more flattering and memorable.
Some questions to ask when fishing for the perfect adjective:
Is it specific?
Is it vivid?
Will the reader understand it?
This is a tricky piece of advice to always follow (please do not go back through my writing and note all the inane uses of "great, incredible, beautiful") but decidedly useful when you're trying to make an impact.
TL;DR? When choosing an adjective, go for one that's specific and vivid but also comprehensible.