Dear author:

[yendi]

I suspect that, at some point, you were told that adverbs are bad (which isn't necessarily correct to begin with, of course; adverbs are tools, and have their uses) . You therefore* decided to expunge them from your novel.

Please understand that the proper way to remove adverbs is to erase them entirely (or rework the sentences). Simply removing the "ly" at the end of a word doesn't remove the adverb; it just makes you look foolish.

*Okay, an adverb-adverse author wouldn't "therefore" decide anything.

Comments

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

This is the same one you've been reading? With the viscous teeth?

[yendi]

Yes. Yes, it is.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

We should be doing an Eye of Argon-style dramatic reading of this.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Do James Ellory. No adverbs, more f-bombs.

(I still boggle at how one book reviewer worked out that The Cold Six Thousand's average sentence length was 4 words. For a whole novel.)

I like to pretend that maybe there's a limited supply of adverbs, and authors depleted them in the early 20th century so we have to be sparing with them now.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

*hides head* Oh, ye gods, say it ain't so.

[luis-mw.livejournal.com]

Do post some prime examples, quick

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Quickly!

[gingicat]

Isn't that the sort of thing editors are supposed to catch *before* it goes to publication?

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

NYARGH. And this is why I think there should be an actual specialized degree for people who want to get into editing/proofreading/professional writing.

(An "English" degree, from personal experience, is about knowing useless facts about literature written in the English language. Nothing about Grammar.)

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[captain18.livejournal.com]

Thirded.

Little Slugs

[forioscribe.livejournal.com]

As a former copywriter for the subsidiary rights department of Doubleday back when their offices were at 277 Park Avenue in New York, I became familiar with editors. For the most part they are dull, plodding, unimaginative, cowering, fearful little slugs who have an elevated opinion of themselves.

They are in denial of the central fact of trade publishing: Virtually EVERY first-time book on the Best Seller lists were previously rejected by 25 to 50 houses.

No editor knows what will sell. They all believe, however, they do.

[rosefox]

I hope this isn't one of mine!

BTW, did the present for shadesong arrive safely in the last package?

[yendi]

It did!

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Not even viciously expunged, then?

[captain18.livejournal.com]

Your icon totally made me think of Bob the Angry Flower's Guide to the Apostrophe (http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif).