The Second Coming is remarkably adverb free.
Wash: Captain, didn't you know kissin' girls makes you sleepy? Mal: Well sometimes I just can't help myself.
'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Ginger - Feb 28, 2012 12:27:30 pm PST #18009 of 28267
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Matt the Bruins fan - Feb 28, 2012 12:28:17 pm PST #18010 of 28267
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
A poetry teacher who didn't like descriptive language? I mean, I understand that overuse can make for some florid junk, but did he really think poetry should read like an inventory list?
Connie Neil - Feb 28, 2012 12:45:07 pm PST #18011 of 28267
brillig
"while I pondered, weak and weary, over many a curious volume of forgotten lore."
OK, poetry, bad example.
But you'll get my adverbs and adjectives when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers.
Polter-Cow - Feb 28, 2012 12:45:35 pm PST #18012 of 28267
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Indubitably.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 3:47:34 pm PST #18013 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Adverbs are generally considered to be a weak construction, a way to slather lots of frosting on a mediocre cake. Good writing prefers strong, active verb constructions. Adverbs should be used........sparingly.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 3:48:10 pm PST #18014 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
(See a better construction would be to say something like, "Be stingy with adverbs." The active verb makes it more vivid.)
-t - Feb 28, 2012 3:52:37 pm PST #18015 of 28267
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
"Be" is active?
Atropa - Feb 28, 2012 3:52:49 pm PST #18016 of 28267
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Adverbs are generally considered to be a weak construction, a way to slather lots of frosting on a mediocre cake. Good writing prefers strong, active verb constructions. Adverbs should be used........sparingly.
Unsurprisingly, I don't agree with this. I feel it's more of a guideline than a rule.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 3:55:39 pm PST #18017 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
"Be" is active?
Yeah not so much.
Unsurprisingly, I don't agree with this.
Tell it to Strunk and White, missy.
Atropa - Feb 28, 2012 3:56:59 pm PST #18018 of 28267
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Tell it to Strunk and White, missy.
Strangely, I don't feel Strunk and White are the final arbitrators of literary style, especially not for fiction. I'll be over here with my Ray Bradbury collection, thanks.