/lit/ - Literature

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Anonymous Tue May 30 17:02:02 2023 No.22093324 [Reply] [Original]

is he right?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 17:05:04 2023 No.22093334 They have their place, but they're often indicative of a poor vocabulary.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 17:07:24 2023 No.22093339 the road to hell is paved adverbly

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 17:35:42 2023 No.22093420 >>22093324 No. Imagine taking advice on good writing from Stephen King. Forsooth, I shall ere long consult Mike Tyson on the involutions of mycological networks. I shit on Stephen King's grave.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 21:10:58 2023 No.22094213 >Stately Plump Buck Mulligan, your response?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 21:12:22 2023 No.22094222 >>22093324 >writes horrible books >gives horrible advice Checks out

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 22:36:51 2023 No.22094547 >>22093324 Someone should throw acid on this hack's face in minecraft

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 22:38:08 2023 No.22094550 >>22093324 Definitely.

Anonymous Tue May 30 23:08:13 2023 No.22094715

>>22093334
>they're often indicative of a poor vocabulary.
how exactly?
take 2 sentences
>The man walked down the street.
vs
>The man cautiously walked down the street.
you're saying i need to find a better verb to convey what's being described in the second statement or else i have poor diction?

Anonymous Tue May 30 23:11:03 2023 No.22094722

>>22094715
I don't find anything wrong with the adverb cautiously but a lot of people who subscribe to the "show, don't tell" philosophy of writing will tell you to describe his cautious walking rather than simply state he was walking cautiously. A lot of my favorite writers do a lot more telling than showing, though maybe it's not so easy to pull off.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 23:14:27 2023 No.22094733 >>22094213 Stately is an adjective.

Anonymous Tue May 30 23:26:21 2023 No.22094767

>>22094715
Depending on how important this scene is, it would probably be better to describe the cautious walk. For example, "The man glanced around as he took deliberate, soft steps." If they're just background characters for the sake of ambience or something, then it's fine to just say they walk cautiously.

I mostly refer to adverbs in dialogue, which can easily become rhyme-y and repetitive. Why did he "say it loudly" when he could have "yelled" or "said so loud that the next table glanced over"?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 23:31:58 2023 No.22094782 >>22093324 I don't even know what an adverb is. And you know what? I don't fucking care.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 23:46:39 2023 No.22094820 >>22094782 based

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 23:48:34 2023 No.22094830 >>22094715 eeking out adverbs from all writing would make reading fiction very dry and academic.

Anonymous Tue May 30 23:56:57 2023 No.22094853

>>22093324
No, but the same thing can be said about every piece of generic writing device. Everything people tell you not to do is something you can find a genius tier writer using to good effect. Use adverbs when they make sense; just don't overly rely on them

Anonymous Tue May 30 23:57:46 2023 No.22094856

>>22093324
>english language already limited and plain
>arbitrarily forbid multiple punctuation marks and categories of words just so you can post on twitter about what an armchair badass visionary you are

vividly imagine a world where whatever mangled that pedo's face had done him in

>>	Anonymous Tue May 30 23:58:37 2023 No.22094857 File: 544 KB, 1855x2560, jk rowling.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] adverbs are transphobic

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:00:24 2023 No.22094863 >>22094782 holy based

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:03:23 2023 No.22094880 >>22094857 ADVERBALLY ENTHUSIASTICALLY ADVERB TRANNIES QUICKLY TO DEATH

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:03:46 2023 No.22094884 >>22094722 Tell, don’t show. That’s the truth they’re hiding from you. Have you EVER enjoyed reading “description”, EVER? What kind of fucking smoothbrain actually enjoys that shit?

Anonymous Wed May 31 00:05:59 2023 No.22094893

>>22093324
This is one of his most famous quotes, and of course, people who haven't actually read the chapter in On Writing about it regurgitate it with no further thought. His point was basically to avoid redundancies, like, "she screamed loudly," or "he smiled happily." Also, if a stronger verb's available then use it instead. Rather than, "He closed the door firmly", how about "He slammed the door." Anyone who's read his books, knows they're littered with adverbs.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/786286/adverbs-in-novels-by-author/

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:11:29 2023 No.22094914 >>22094884 >Have you EVER enjoyed reading “description”, EVER? this. made it 100 pages into LOTR before i realized half of those 100 pages was describing the history of every single fucking hobbit family in the shire

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:11:36 2023 No.22094915 >>22094880 ,'' anon said transphobically

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:12:53 2023 No.22094919 >>22094767 >Why did he "say it loudly" when he could have "yelled" or "said so loud that the next table glanced over"? Gotta be careful with this because then you start getting into the territory of using too many words

Anonymous Wed May 31 00:15:00 2023 No.22094928

>>22094715
>you're saying i need to find a better verb to convey what's being described in the second statement

Yes.

Don't be lazy. If you want to be a writer you cannot rely on adverbs, which in a sense are clichés.

For example instead of he walked cautiously you could say:

> The man walked down the street, pausing here and there, fearful of what might jump out from behind a parked car or what awaited him around the corner.

Anonymous Wed May 31 00:19:27 2023 No.22094941

>>22094884
>>22094914

Sitting in their moms basement, the two strangers didn't have a clue how much their lives were alike. Both wearing boxers and crocks without sock, their walls adorned with the posters of My Little Pony fan art, the wall of VCR tapes of Anime, the mattress lying on the floor with two week old sheets. They could have easily come home drunk to the wrong house and never notice, had they ever had a drink in their lives.
Life is hard for the incel.

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:23:45 2023 No.22094955 >>22094767 >Why did he "say it loudly" when he could have "yelled" or "said so loud that the next table glanced over"? Because he didn't quite yell and the next table didn't glance over.

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:27:13 2023 No.22094966 >>22093324 I believe personally the road to hell is drunkenly fantasizing about killing your kid and child orgies But then again that’s me

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:30:00 2023 No.22094976 >>22094955 I would assume by "loudly" the other tables heard him and looked.

Anonymous Wed May 31 00:30:10 2023 No.22094977

>>22093324
Not liking adverbs is only more proof he thinks only in basic stock tropes. Not like adverbs to describe what's going on proves that he doesn't want to elaborate on how something is happening in a dynamic way and that he only wants simple things to happen because "that's just what happens"

>>	Anonymous Wed May 31 00:31:54 2023 No.22094980 >>22094955 you being daft on purpose? you better not be

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