Many English and
creative writing teachers/professors hold a grudge against adverbs. They
commonly (adverb) consider it lazy.
I get that. Why
write, “He angrily shook the table,” when you could write, “He shook the table
so hard that drinks toppled from it”?
The more you avoid
adverbs, the more descriptive you must write to communicate your message. I
find, under almost all circumstances, that any “rule” that forces you to juggle
your words benefits you as a writer.
“She said shyly”
or “She whispered while she faced the floor, a slight blush at her cheeks.”
However, adverbs don’t strike me as
“bad.” They serve as tools, like any other part of speech. They possess their
uses, especially in concise writing.
Words that
describe a verb (action word) count as adverbs. Words such as bitterly, slyly,
shortly, and ape-with-an-itchy-buttly (don’t tell me I can’t invent words; every word represents an invention) all
work as adverbs—and adverbs sometimes work.
I could rewrite
the sentence “She said seductively” as “She said with her eyes half-closed in a
heavy, breathy voice, her right hip cocked.” Which works best for your scene?
The second scene
creates a better picture, but perhaps you need to speed things a bit via a
tighter word count.
Perhaps you
already painted a picture of how this particular character behaves when she
wishes to seduce someone, and you see no reason to repeat yourself.
An adverb
occasionally (adverb) proves the right tool for the job.
Consider, when you
edit, an alternative to any adverbs you find, but keep in mind that sometimes
your scene require an adverb.
Feel free to use
them (unless you professor hates them, in which case give her what she wants
for the duration of her class).
Thanks for reading.
You probably noticed
that I went about a week without a blog entry. I apologize for that. The
creation of the prototype for my card game, Duelists
of Darkwana (based on my novel series, Diaries
of Darkwana), managed to eat up a lot of my time.
I also need to
explain, on that note, where the heck the third novel for that series went. It
sits done and ready to publish on Kindle.
At the moment, my
wonderful cover artist deals with a few distractions. I promise that as soon as
I get the completed cover art from her (if not sooner), I shall publish the
third novel in my series.
OH! Also, Daughters of Darkwana received a sweet,
succinct review, which you can read here, http://www.thebookeaters.co.uk/daughters-of-darkwana-by-martin-wolt-jr/
I
publish my blogs as follows:
Tuesdays:
A look at the politics of the entertainment world at EntertainmentMicroscope.blogspot.com.
Wednesdays:
An inside look at my novels (such as Daughters of Darkwana, which you can now find on Kindle) at Darkwana.blogspot.com
