Quote:
Originally Posted by doreenjoy
I'm not convinced that writing can always be judged objectively.
To use a very coarse example, there are some who think all adverbs are bad, for example, and others who think only adverbs used to modify weak verbs are bad.
All of my writer friends disagree with me.
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In my experience, the thing with adverbs are that they are very easy to use badly; so much so that most adverbs one runs across in fiction, especially fiction by new writers, are used badly. The other thing about adverbs, related to the first, is that they are usually a sign that the writer used the wrong verb, and then added an adverb rather than looking for the right verb.
It's not always true, but it's true often enough that every adverb should be flagged on an editing pass to see if it's really necessary; usually it isn't.