I Can Haz Grammar – Adverbs
The adverb. In particular the evil “ly” words. They are my nemesis. I recently had to go through a WIP and for a 60 page story I found 400-something words that ended in ly. That’s a lot of ly words!
As you may remember from my original grammar post (*ahem* back in January):
Adverb - words that describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs and specify where, when, what manner, and how much (i.e. – much, loudly, grumpily, soon)
So an adverb is a modifier. The problem is, it often leads to telling and not showing. It’s like short hand for the lazy writer. In every day conversations they serve a purpose, but when describing a scene to a reader it translates to laziness. Now, don’t get me wrong. Adverbs have their place in writing too, just not EVERY place. 
Where does that leave us? Needing examples! I love examples. Here are some lines from one of my WIPs.
Orig: She looked at him a little blankly as the emergency lights from the fire truck washed them in a revolving red glow.
Edited: She looked at him, her gaze unfocused and absent, as the emergency lights from the fire truck washed them in a revolving red glow.
I like the change. It’s more descriptive, shows the reader exactly what I meant by “blankly”.
Orig: Between the glare of the badly placed can lights, the ugly red vinyl covered chairs, and the unsettling stalker-like quality to the whole evening he was pretty sure this was going to be a complete disaster.
This one I’d leave alone. I could change “badly placed” to misplaced, but I would sacrifice tone for cleanliness. Sometimes you want to keep the adverb because it just works.
Now, I am still working through a lot of these rules myself. I don’t pretend to be a Grammar Goddess, but I think i have a grasp on this concept now and I hope I have shared it in a way that is easy to understand. Feel free to comment, I am interested in learning more as I become a better writer.
Magdalene Release Day is Coming!
I have to share with you a release I am super excited about. It has been a long time coming. But wait, I should catch you up first…Around March of last year I discovered The Proviso. I had been following Moriah Jovan on Twitter for a while and finally was intrigued enough to pick up her book. I have to say I freaking LOVED her characters! Normally I am not a contemporary romance reader, but she sucked me in with her sexy men and badass chicks. Of course, the women are all badass in their own way, not necessarily kick butt and take names kind of badass. 
After The Proviso I read Stay. Another winner. Not as intense as The Proviso, but it was good.
Then I got the chance to Beta read her next release. Now, this took much whining and complaining on my part about having to wait until Easter of 2011. But after many many months of my whining tweets she finally sent me a copy. Mmmmwwwaaahhh!!!! Oops did I do that out loud? Anywhoo, I read it and again, was like whoa and hot damn! Another freaking fantastic read!
Now, I should warn you all that 1) Moriah Jovan writes CRACK (seriously, you will be addicted) and 2) she will make you lust after a Mormon Bishop in the most deliciously dirty ways. That said, I highly recommend the experience.
So, now take a gander below at the info I completely ripped off her website and you decide. And by decide, I mean go buy all three books (the new one next week) and read them in order. Now. (That last part was totally said in my Jedi mind control voice.)
Those of you just discovering the Dunham series, I envy you. There’s nothing like the first time. 
