Should we rid our work of all adverbs? Only the bad ones.

This is part of a blog post that I found especially interesting. I pound this advice into my students in every class. We all make these mistakes without realizing it. Kristen's post is a valuable one to keep handy and read often. http://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/04/self-editing-writers/

Her writing is humorous but dead on topic. I subscribe to her blog and am never disappointed in what she has to say about writing. In this post: Self-Editing:7 tips to Tighten the Story and Cut Costs, we learn how to self-edit and save money on hiring editors to do what we can do ourselves.

I am offering you just one of her tips here.

#1 DIY Adverb Removal

Despite what you might have been told, not ALL adverbs are evil. Redundant adverbs are evil. If someone shouts loudly? How else are they going to shout? Whispering quietly?

***Wow, glad the author explained how 'whispering' works.

Ah, but if a character whispers seductively? The adverb seductively gives us a quality to the whisper that isn't inherent in the verb. Check your work for adverbs and kill the redundant ones.

Either we need to choose a stronger verb, or we're treating the reader like an idiot.

If a character walks quickly to the train platform, then choose a verb that means 'to walk quickly' (stride, jog, hurry) and use that one instead. If a character yells loudly, ditch the loudly. 

We understand how yelling 'works.'