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Q&A Avoiding -ly Words

"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs," said Stephen King. He went on to explain that they should be used sparingly, not as a crutch to avoid writing a more descriptive sentence. Somet...

2 answers  ·  posted 8y ago by Eric J.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question description script
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:45:10Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25286
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Eric J.‭ · 2019-12-08T05:45:10Z (almost 5 years ago)
"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs," said Stephen King. He went on to explain that they should be used sparingly, not as a crutch to avoid writing a more descriptive sentence.

Sometimes, I find a much more colorful way to express myself when editing out an -ly word. Other times, I find myself avoiding them by transforming sentences in a straightforward manner, e.g.:

"The two silently admired Jupiter" =\> "The two admired Jupiter in silence."

", she said wryly" =\> ", she said with a wry grin."

Does this exercise improve my writing, or is it just as lazy as the original -ly adverb?

Any advice for when that rich description fails to materialize in my mind?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-11-20T19:18:19Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 4