Modifiers

According to Noah Lukeman in his must-read book The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile, "After its presentation, the quickest and easiest way to reject a manuscript is to look for the overuse, or misuse, of adjectives and adverbs. Most people who come to writing for the first time think they bring their nouns and verbs to life by piling on adjectives and adverbs, that by describing a day as being 'hot, dry, bright and dusty' they make it more vivid. Almost always the opposite is true" (31-32).

Amongst writers, the use of adjectives and adverbs is a debate that will probably never end.

Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers.

Adjectives modify (add information) to nouns. In "the pretty girl," pretty is an adjective that modifies girl.

Adverbs modify (add information) to verbs. In "She walked quickly," quickly is an adverb that modifies walked.


Some writers argue for the use of adverbs and adjectives, stating that their use is what add color to a story and make things vivid for the reader.

Other writers believe adverbs and adjectives should be used judiciously as to not over embellish a work.


I tend to fall within the latter camp of writers. Why? Because using too many adverbs and adjectives can make a story so thick in detail that readers can't see anything for themselves. I definitely believe in a writer-story-reader interaction when reading. As a reader, I don't want to be told everything; I want the writer to tell a story in a way that I can fill in the holes he/she masterfully leaves for me to fill. I want to experience the story and connect with it, not be spoon-fed everything. Also, I'm on the "less is more" side because I think writers run the chance of producing flowery writing if they overuse modifiers. Must a reader know every color of a chair or a sofa? Must a reader know the exact color, style of a carpet? Must a reader know a character "walked slowly" when the writer could use a stronger verb like "trudged"? Must a reader know exactly how a character does everything?


One thing I've talked about a lot throughout this series is PURPOSE. What's your story's purpose and how do your characters, their dialogue, their actions connect with that purpose.

We can use this idea of "purpose" to talk about adjectives and adverbs, too.

You want to use adverbs and adjectives when they are there to convey something important - about characters, setting, themes, etc. For example, if the goal is to show just how opulent a life a character has, then detailing specific items in that character's life would be appropriate. Illustrating your character's life to reveal his/her opulence is the purpose. How you describe that life determines how you will use the modifiers.

Use modifiers that are strong. "Pretty" is not a strong adjective. It doesn't convey much, and if your purpose is to add detail and visuals to your story, you have done yourself a disservice in using it. Same goes for words like "little," "very," and even "good" and "bad"; they are too general and do nothing to add to your story. Try to find a strong verb to replace a weak verb-adverb combination. My example above, using "trudged" instead of "walked slowly." We see things in stories like "Martha walked fast to the front door." Isn't there another way to state "walked fast"? Perhaps "sprinted," "raced," and "trotted"?

Look for redundancy. You wouldn't write "the large elephant," would you? Hopefully not. Be mindful of nouns that inherently suggest adjectives as to not be redundant. Also, in regards to redundancy, be mindful of overusing a particular adverb or adjective throughout your story. You can do Google searches for lists of adjectives and adverbs and in the editing and revising stages of your writing process look up the modifiers you use most often and edit to make sure you don't overuse them.

Be figurative. You're a writer, show us that in your use of analogies, metaphors, similes, imagery because they will resonate in us more than adjectives and adverbs will.


At the end of the day, every word you write is important, and all of them should connect to tell the most well-developed, powerful story you can write. Don't let a few of those words set the stage for someone deeming your work amateurish and overwritten.

Again, as I've stated before, in the writing stage - especially if you're someone who has a habit of stopping and trying to edit your work as you write - don't worry so much about this issue. Just get the words on the PAGE.

When it's time to polish and revise and edit and rewrite, definitely make a pass in your work for modifiers.