Writing advice from wordgenius and something my editors frequently told me:
In his book On Writing, Stephen King said, “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” Tough talk on adverbs from a writing master, but instead of enriching prose, these descriptors can lead to dull, lifeless writing.
Take this example:
Kamil walked out of the room angrily.
Writers are told to show, not tell. By rewriting the sentence to include some of Kamil’s actions, we can remove the adverb telling us how he feels and give the character’s feelings more context.
Kamil slammed his books on the table and stormed out of the room.
Now you’re showing how your character feels, not telling the reader by using adverbs.
On the other hand, an adverb can evoke a complex meaning, as in this example, Sara smiled sadly.
In his book On Writing, Stephen King said, “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.” Tough talk on adverbs from a writing master, but instead of enriching prose, these descriptors can lead to dull, lifeless writing.
Take this example:
Kamil walked out of the room angrily.
Writers are told to show, not tell. By rewriting the sentence to include some of Kamil’s actions, we can remove the adverb telling us how he feels and give the character’s feelings more context.
Kamil slammed his books on the table and stormed out of the room.
Now you’re showing how your character feels, not telling the reader by using adverbs.
On the other hand, an adverb can evoke a complex meaning, as in this example, Sara smiled sadly.
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