Hey everyone! We made it back again for another post. Two more to go after this before the end of the series. I am excited to share these last few ideas about prose with you all. Today’s post should also be a little interesting and hopefully helpful. So, without further ado…
Prose: Adjectives and Adverbs
The topic of adjectives and adverbs also has a lot to do with the syntax of writing. Often times if you are trying to make a sentence longer or more winded adding more adjectives and adverbs is the way to go whereas if you are trying to make the sentence shorter or more precise using less adjectives and adverbs and picking the ones you do use carefully is the best way to do that. In this way, paying attention to the adjectives and adverbs that you use is important to writing prose.
I have a few pieces of advice when writing with adjectives and adverbs and because they are advice, which ones you choose to follow or not follow depends largely on the emotions that you are trying to evoke in your writing and also the genre.
Don’t overuse the weak ones
There are a lot of different types of adjectives and adverbs and although certain people will have different ones that pop into their mind when playing madlibs there are certain ones that are just weaker than others. For example, the adverb very or extremely are often weaker adverbs that can weaken the usefulness or the strength of your sentence. Same with the adverb suddenly. These adverbs and adjectives like them should be avoided.
One of the best ways to determine if you should avoid using the adverb or adjective you have written is see if it doesn’t add anything to the sentence. For example, lets say you wrote this sentence,
After I threw the ball at her face, Sarah screamed angrily at me.
What’s wrong with the adverb in this sentence? Yeah, screamed combined with ‘at me’ already implies that Sarah is angry. So the adverb angrily in this sentence is weak and not useful. The sentences sounds stronger by removing it, “After I threw the ball at her face, Sarah screamed at me.”
If your adjective or adverb is not adding anything then it is not necessary to the sentence, paragraph, description, or situation. As Mark Twain said, “As to the Adjective [and Adverb]: when in doubt, strike it out.”
Use the correct ones to paint the correct picture (or don’t)
Adjectives and adverbs often get a bad rep when it comes to writing prose. There are hundreds of writing advice blogs out there that will tell you to get rid of almost all adjectives and adverbs from your descriptions because they add nothing to it. Anyone who says that doesn’t understand nuance in writing. There are times when adjectives and adverbs should be removed. As a general rule of thumb if you have too many adjectives and adverbs when writing a college paper it will sound less professional. But there are times when adjectives and adverbs should be used they should just be used sparingly and correctly.
For example, if I want to set a scene for a reader and I want it to be specific because it is important later what the shape of the doors are the size of the room – then you should describe those things! If it’s important that the room is ‘five feet from end to end’ because the character is rather tall and this means they can’t lay down or sleep during the time of their confinement by the villian in this room – then write that! Adjectives can be useful in the act of showing not telling but don’t overuse the adjectives in explaining too much about the room.
Some adjectives just work better with certain verbs to convey a stronger point. For example, if you were to say, “He forced the door open” this is a useful adverb. By simply saying that he opened the door we would have no tone for anything else. Stating that he simply opened the door can be useful unless you are trying to set the scene into which he opened the door. Using the adverb forced may imply several things to your readers including that it was closed tightly somehow either with a lock or a person’s body and that the man opening the door is doing so semi-urgently.
On the other hand of the use of adjectives and adverbs – if you are purposely attempting to obscure the scenery from the reader (not a typical writing method but I have seen it reflected in several books) then you would not want to use the correct adjectives and adverbs to describe it. In this case you may use weak adjectives or adverbs simply for the sake of the writing style or not use them at all. As long as you are using them correctly (or not using them as the case may be) for the specific situation you are writing – you are using them well.
Be careful of how you say ‘said’
Similarly, to what was mentioned in the first point, adjectives and adverbs should be used carefully when being added to dialogue sections. Although often times it is important to use dialogue words such as ‘screamed’, ‘yelled’, ‘sniffed’, or ‘whispered’ they should never be overused in writing. As Jack Bickham once wrote, you should never underestimate the power of the word said. When using the word said, it is important to use the appropriate adverb to get across the meaning of the dialogue – the literature equivalent of texting emojis or tone indicators.
Adverbs when used with the verb ‘said’ are attempts to make the intention of the character clear. If it is not clear add a different adverb or move things around to change it. Louise Harnby wrote a great example of this on her blog with these 4 example sentences,
‘Take it or leave it,’ said John.
‘Take it or leave it,’ said John dismissively.
‘Take it or leave it – I couldn’t care less,’ said John.
‘Take it or leave it – I couldn’t care less,’ said John dismissively.
The second sentence and the third sentence both give the same intention in a good way (although I personally prefer the second sentence the best) but the fourth sentence is too much, the adverb becomes excessive and should probably be cut. Whereas the first sentence seems to not have enough clarity of the characters intention and does need an adverb to be more precise.
Adjectives and adverbs are important to writing but they are a writing tool that needs to be used carefully. Overusing them can cause weaker sentences and imprecise descriptions while not using any can also create imprecise descriptions and make the characters intentions unclear. I personally think that adjectives and adverbs are useful tools, but they are tools that should be used for the exact perfect situation and not the catch all tool of writing.
That’s all that I have for this week’s post. I hope that it’s helpful in clearing up some things about adjectives and adverbs. Next week’s post will be about style in prose and I’m excited to talk about it. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the link on the bottom of the page. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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