: Re: What's with all the hate on adjectives and adverbs? Ok, I'm starting to get a feel for this, but I'm hoping someone can explain it more clearly for me. I learned in all my English classes

@Pope4766717

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Writing is tricky. As someone telling a story, you have to find the balance between describing something and moving the plot forward. If your description (be it an adjective, adverb, or even a couple of sentences of prose) adds to the information the reader needs to know, is a relevant detail, or gives a better image of what's going on, keep it in. If it detracts from the momentum of the story and delays the actually important parts, it shouldn't be in there.

The phrase you used "show, don't tell" is a good example of that need for balance. As the narrator, you're going to be writing two things: prose and speech. When you have a character talking, you're not generally going to have them come out and directly say something like "We lost the championships. I'm sad," said Henry. You'll more likely write "We lost the championships," said Henry sadly. Here, you'd rather show than tell. On the other hand, you don't need to show all the events that occurred in the team losing the championships. It might be enough to tell the reader that it happened. If it doesn't move along the plot, you'd rather tell than show.

If you don't put in enough description, you run the risk of having your reader not connect with the world or the characters. If you put in too much, you bog down the plot. When in doubt, you can always put in the description as you're writing and take it out later. It's harder though to leave it out in the beginning and realize you need it later.

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