Verbicide
By Therese Walsh | March 4, 2008 |
A great blip from Wordsmith’s Word-A-Day:
William Strunk and E.B. White, in their highly-regarded book, The Elements of Style, say:
“Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn’t been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.”
They have a point. Nouns and verbs work better especially when you’re trying to paint a picture with words. Adjectives and adverbs are to nouns and verbs as painting is to stenciling.
But adjectives have their place. There are times when a well-chosen adjective (literally, one that lies [next to a noun]) can do the job of many words, such as when the purpose is to convey an idea quickly and succinctly.
So don’t be afraid to use them, with restraint, particularly if you can find a fresh adjective.
Write on, all!
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
I believe Stephen King preaches against the adverb in his book “On Writing.”
I’m going to be reading that one soon. I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t yet!
Teri,
Many thanks for standing up for the occasionally useful adverb. I really, truly think that these unappreciated, oft-maligned parts of speech are….Oh, I give up. I can’t cram any more adverbs into this paragraph. Seriously, great post and I agree.
By the way, King’s novels are too intense for my taste, but his book, ON WRITING, is excellent. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Write on.
Thanks, Richard, and good to see you again!