Some thoughts about adverb usage and the 'Show, Don't Tell' rule [writing, meta, public post]

[naatz]

This is something I've been thinking about for some time. It's not organised, exactly, more like a collection of random thoughts that will hopefully form a cohesive idea.

Show, Don't Tell
But Not ReallyWhen I started writing, I was a big fan of this rule. But the more I kept writing, and later editing, I became more and more ambivalent about it,

Comments

[glorious_spoon]

It's not the way you describe that matters, it's the why.

Amen, sister. I've had some pretty in-depth and objectively well-written description fall incredibly flat on the re-read, just because my head was in the wrong place and I was spewing irrelevant details instead of thinking about my characters or my story. And this is from somebody who loves writing description, mind you.

I also have a guilty love of adverbs. It always makes me feel a little like an unrepentant addict in some writing circles, but you know, words exist to be used, right?

[naatz]

I just spent this whole post saying that using adverbs is not only acceptable, but recommended when necessary. They should be treated just like any other description. Take this journal as your adverb guilt-free community! :P

I've found that what decides whether descriptions fail or pass is the narrator. If the narrator is in a descriptive mood, descriptions pass. If not and you're trying to hint at something, you're screwed. -_-

|Meduza|