But that's not true for a hell of a lot of writers out there, who could definitely benefit from a few less adverbs (and adjectives, and instances of passive construction, and tense shifts ...).
t cough J.K. Rowling
Don't belong. Dangerous, like you. Can't be controlled. Can't be trusted. Everyone could just go on without me and not have to worry. People could be what they wanted to be. Could be with the people they wanted. Live simple. No secrets.
River ,'Objects In Space'
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."
Kat - Feb 28, 2012 4:21:36 pm PST #18021 of 28269
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Amy - Feb 28, 2012 4:25:15 pm PST #18022 of 28269
Because books.
She does love her adverbs and adjectives, I know. I found it to be part of her style, though, because she was fairly consistent with, um, overuse, so the rhythm of the narrative was pretty steady.
That might make sense only in my head, though.
It does give her books (or the Harry Potter series anyway) a certain flavor and color, too.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 4:29:20 pm PST #18023 of 28269
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Stephen King - who is a fan of JKR - specifically called her out on her adverb abuse, especially things like: "Ha, Ha!" she cried triumphantly.
Amy - Feb 28, 2012 4:43:00 pm PST #18024 of 28269
Because books.
Like I said, she does probably use too many. I just don't care, because the books were incredibly readable to me.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 4:44:28 pm PST #18025 of 28269
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I think she listened to him, though, as it was noticeably less in the last book.
Kat - Feb 28, 2012 5:04:56 pm PST #18026 of 28269
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Part of my course has been helping kids identify "works of literary merit" and defining what that means. One of our ongoing discussions is around the idea that one trait of literary merit is playing with language (which Rowling does, but it's mostly in the naming of things, like Spell-o-tape etc).
I think they have decided that, generally speaking, books that are primarily plot-driven are wonderful but mostly don't qualify as having "literary merit." It's been interesting to see them reach that conclusion because most of them found it when trying to identify the differences between Jane Eyre, Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Rowling is plot so her adverbial tendencies don't really slow that down.
Connie Neil - Feb 28, 2012 5:05:33 pm PST #18027 of 28269
brillig
Adverbs should be used........sparingly.
You probably eat dry toast, too.
§ ita § - Feb 28, 2012 5:06:58 pm PST #18028 of 28269
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I thought today's writers were less slavishly devoted to Strunk and White? Haven't they sort of receded into the landscape of pretty opinionated grammar dominatri...what the hell is a gender neutral term for what I'm looking for, fuck?
I mean, I didn't think they were regarded as singularly right anymore...not hugely more right than many other voices (some of whom don't have a hate on for the adverb, for instance, to the same degree).
Jessica - Feb 28, 2012 5:19:05 pm PST #18029 of 28269
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I think it's entirely possible to write lively descriptive prose without an abundance of adverbs. Framing it as a choice between adverb overload and stark minimalism is a strawman, surely.
Tom Scola - Feb 28, 2012 5:21:14 pm PST #18030 of 28269
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
Definitely. People need to stop dichotomizing falsely.