No Adverbs? Why??

³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  
                                           ~~~~Matthew 6:3-4, 7-8 ~~~

So.  Why exactly are we not supposed to use adverbs?  Oops, I just used one.  There.  In the first sentence.
  Anyway, Mark Twain said this, "If you see an adverb, kill it."  that sounds pretty harsh.  Steven King also is very much against them.  Why is this?  Everyone else who just hears and does without asking, should look deeper into the question.  I was wondering this.  Then I googled it (oh how I love Google) and found some very good answers.
It is because, quite frankly, of many reasons.  Here are some, mixed with ways to counteract them or replace them.
1.  It doesn't sound as professional, using a word with 'ly' at the end of it, or -ness at the end of a word too.  All adverbs are adjectives with 'ly' at the end.  Show me otherwise and I will be enlightened.  We can always change them to adjectives.  "He spoke quietly" to "The man's words were quiet." 

2.  Some adverbs aren't even needed.  "She ran quickly", "He walked slowly" - I've used that one - "the man whispered quietly."

None of these are needed.  We all know when you run you run fast.  We know that when you walk, it's slower than running, but you could always replace it with a stronger verb: crept, tip-toed, or "He was slow, creeping closer."
But what happens when someone runs slowly because of a limp?  They "limped" of course.  What happens when a child whispers loudly?  We could always say something like "The child attempted a soft whisper, but it came out loud and hoarse."
You know when you try to get a child to whisper, the idea is that when you whisper you'll be quiet, but when a child tries to whisper, it is always loud and anyone can hear it.  They are experts at it.

But, there is one exception to this rule, and it lies in dialogue.  People can use adverbs all they want and readers won't complain.  But only have a character use a bunch of adverbs if it is their characteristic to do so.
Now, I won't be a hypocrite.  I do have a bunch of adverbs to deal with in my own work, but I thought this would be helpful.  Also, I'm saying this as much to myself as to you.  Not many people even read my blog. *sad face*
Could you spread this around to other writers/book-lovers?  I would appreciate it very much.

God bless you!
~~~Emilyn J Wood


 

New Hobbit Trailer and Other Things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYz0JWJioOM

For many are called, but few are chosen.
~~~Matthew 22:14


Have you seen the new Hobbit trailer yet?  It is really cool and I am more excited than before now that it is out. :D
Radegast the Brown in the trailer, is the Seventh Doctor from Doctor Who in disguise!  Really, it's him! 
Merry Tolkien Week, Happy Talk like a Pirate Day, and two more Tolkien holidays are to be here on Friday and Saturday: Hobbit's 75th Anniversary and Bilbo and Frodo's Birthday!  So mark your calenders.

Keep the light as the first thing before your eyes so that it may light your path and keep you from stumbling angrily and afraid in the dark.  Make the Light your lamp and let it guide you on your path for your own race, so that you may confront every terrible truth of life with enduring hope, faith, love, and compassion; for these things are of the Light.
You are never alone.
~~~~Emilyn J Wood

Class

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, along with all types of evil behavior.  Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one-another just as God through Christ has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4:31-32



I followed two figures into the black night outside last night.  The clouds covered us in gray and black, and the sweetest, gentlist pricks of cold droplets touched me all over in the silence.  The road sparkled, with a tinge of purple in the black, and an eerie light from the lamp posts at the end of the street made the colors blur together.  I twirled in the light droplets of mist, walking quickly but yet slowly into the damp light.
Hello, again.  I have not written anything for a while now.  maybe... two months?  I wanted to write at least one post a month.  Don't worry - I wasn't following strangers.  They were my parents.
I started watching the new Doctor Who epies(that is what I call the episodes for short - epies) and I am really enjoying them so far, especially the third epie of the new seventh season.  They go back in time to the western small towns!  It was weird hearing English accents next to American accents.

I want to read Bleak House to say that I have read it.  Needless to say, it is very long book by Charles Dickens.  C S Lewis was reading it at a tea party when he said this familiar quote, "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me."
So I shall think that he enjoyed the book Bleak House.  I hear it is a mystery. 

I want to do NanoWrimo this year, in November.  It will be so much fun!  It will take perseverance and creativity, but I think at least ten thousand words a day so I can write as much if I push myself.   

New American girl books are coming, and since I've been a big fan of them since I was five or six, I'm going to read them.

I began Co-op this year.  At the class, we do History, Literature, Truth Project (Focus on the Family), grammar, and economics.  It is really fun learning things about short stories and the history of it in a Christian class that owns a gray cat and a piano!
God bless you all, writer or not, reader or not.
~~~Emilyn