Adjectives and adverbs can be overused. Often, they make sentences less descriptive and powerful. For example, "He was fat," has more impact than, "He was pretty fat," or even, "He was very fat." Too many adjectives and adverbs can weaken your prose.
On the other hand, piling on the modifiers can be used to great effect when the VPC's voice lets you get away with it. Here's a famous bit from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:
Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!
This wouldn't work in a naturalistic book, but it's perfect for A Christmas Carol (which Dickens presents in a voice like a wine-lubricated old man sitting down by the fire to tell his grandchildren a ghost story).
Adjectives and adverbs have to be closely
supervised. Never use them gratuitously; and never
ever use them because you think they'll make you
sound more impressive. When you review your writing,
take a second to consider every adjective and adverb. Can
you delete them and retain the same effect? Do you have
to use a lot of modifiers because your verbs are wimpy?
Are you putting in adverbs like "slightly," "really," and
"mostly" because you're too chicken to make an unmodified
statement? (This is one of my own common problems.)
Asking such questions can help you eliminate flabby modifiers from your
prose, leaving only the ones that truly serve a purpose.
<Previous | Top | Table of Contents | Next>
Copyright © 2001, James Alan Gardner