Really, Finally, Actually — you don’t need them
I have found that these three words can be the bane of a story. In fact, when I do my editing, I do a search and replace to get rid of them. I replace them with a character so that when I look through, I can decide if the word should stay (warning: replace “actually” with an X or something, otherwise you’ll probably miss it when you review). In dialogue, it’s often fine to leave it; that is, after all, how people talk. However, to continually read that a character “really wants” or was “really upset” is annoying. They either are upset or they aren’t, and words like “really” (and most other adverbs) don’t add to it. The reader can tell if a character is “really” upset, given what precedes the sentence. Let the reader fill some things in; it works much better that way.
Oh, we must add “very” to that list. Ever notice how something that is “hard” reads as harder than something that is “very hard”?
I had a high school English teacher who gave a similar lesson on “a lot”. I sometimes even remember that it should be replaced with “many”, or “much.”
A lot of the time I actually forget though.
Excellent advice for any writer!!!!