The votes are in. You guys have chosen Face Off for the weekly Friday theme. Thanks to those of you who voted!
So, first a quick update, since I have been absent for most of this week. I have spent the last four days in a manic state of revising. The manuscript, thankfully, is now on its way to the agent's hands. She estimates she'll get back to me within eight weeks.
Word of warning to anyone out there: Say (as a completely hypothetical example) you are querying, and you've gotten a few rejections, some with feedback about your manuscript. Based on this you decide, you need to change the story arc, rewrite the ending, and change some of the mythology in your book. But you figure, you haven't heard from the rest of your queries and it's been three months or so since you've sent them, so they must be rejections. In fact, you even blog about the death of your first novel and start working on a second book. Then, out of the blue, another full request comes in and now you have to do a month's worth of work in a week. What an idiot you would be. Don't be me one of those people.
Okay, moving on.
For Face Off Friday, I will be selecting a topic that people have opposing opinions on. I will give both sides and then ask you, as commenters, to give you own opinion.
First in the ring: ADVERBS
On the Adverbs are Satan's spawn side:
The adverb is one of the most talked about parts of speech amongst writers. Pick up most writing books, and it will tell you that using adverbs should be avoided like the plague. Stephen King goes as far as saying that the road to hell is paved with adverbs.The argument consist of the following:-Adverbs are the sign of weak writing, particularly weak verbs. Why speak loudly when you should just yell?-They tell instead of show.-It's the lazy way. Ex.) He gazed at her tenderly vs. He gazed at her, brushing a wisp of hair off her face.-They provide redundant information. Ex.) He yelled loudly. She ran quickly.-They make the prose sound purple.
On the Adverbs are unfairly maligned side:
This side claims that murdering adverbs is just part of the current trend of our fast-moving, text-messaging, tweeting society. We want writing to be as succinct as possible. We don't have time to read all the flowery prose that the 1940s writers employed.Their argument:-Sometimes the adverb might be the absolute right work for the situation. Ex.)What would "through a glass, darkly" be without the adverb?-Without adverbs and the other redheaded step child (dialogue tags), we're reduced to said, asked, and stated. Snore.-Sometimes its hard to find a verb that fits what you're trying to say. Ex.) whispered loudly--you could say "said in a loud whisper" but if we're trying to be brief, what's better-The general reading public are not bothered by them. Some of the bestsellers (most notably Twilight and Harry Potter) are notorious adverb abusers.Case in point:Unexpectedly, he was on his feet, bounding away, instantly out of sight, onlyto appear beneath the same tree as before, having circled the meadow in a half second.
“As if you could outrun me,” he laughed bitterly.
He reached up with one hand and, with a deafening crack, effortlessly ripped a two-foot-thick branch from the trunk of the spruce.
… I’d never seen him so completely freed of that carefully cultivated facade. … His lovely eyes seemed to glow with rash excitement. Then, as the seconds passed, they dimmed. His expression slowly folded into a mask of ancient sadness.
“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured, his velvet voice unintentionally seductive.
… He sat sinuously, with deliberately unhurried movements, till our faces were on the same level, just a foot apart.
– Excerpted from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, pages, 264-265 (source)
I'll admit that I struggle with no adverb rule when I'm writing. A large chunk of my editing goes into finding these and figuring out a better way to say whatever I was trying to say. (Tip: do a Find/Search on "ly" in your document to unearth the little buggers.)
The first run through my novel, I wasn't aware of this rule. Wow. When I started reading on the craft and discovered this, I wanted to bang my head against the computer. Adverb (and dialogue tag) abuse didn't even begin to describe the first version of my novel.
So how about you? Do you struggle with this? Are there ever times where you think the adverb is needed? Are we being too hard on this lonely part of speech?