I'm not saying you wouldn't . I'm saying you don't need to tell the reader that you would because it's obvious... its also not a cheap shot, you can do whatever you want... but on message for this thread there are better ways to tighten up a story than just removing all the 'ly' adverbs
My book is well written, easy to read, and has a fun story. This may be my first novel, but I don't think it needs much in terms of editing. The kid in my story gets his ass kicked on a regular basis by the gypsy that trains him for dropping his weapon and being easy to disarm. He makes a federal case out of the grip to the point it becomes instinctive for the boy to set it before a fight. What you're saying might be obvious to you, but it supports the painstaking background I wrote to provide the kid with legitimacy during his later encounters. As for the 'ly ending stuff, I call it a quirk of my writing. All my books will be written that way. I do the same thing with passive voice. Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at people, but we were jumping to unnecessary conclusions. Peace out.
Hey man I think folks were just having fun with the example, nothing directed at you. Who knows what rabbit holes these guys go down, amirite? everyone have a beer on me!
It was all with tongue firmly in cheek. Can't you see those facial bulges? Just a bunch of writers following flights of fancy. I don't drink beer, but if you have a glass of ice tea, I'll gladly take that instead.
I don't think our members are taking cheap shots at you, so much as having fun riffing on the concepts you raised. Of course short examples are taken out of context. That can mean more attention gets paid to minutiae than would be the case if the whole story is there. By all means, eliminate -ly words, if that's what you want to do. If you do it well enough, nobody will notice. (Which, to my mind is a good thing. I believe a good writer is somebody whose writing style goes unnoticed. What grips the reader instead, is the story they are telling. However you achieve that literary nirvana, you win.) I do agree that over-use of any writing mode can be annoying. There was a whole genre of jokes that poked fun at adverbs, some years ago. They were called Tom Swifties, based on the writings of an author whose main character was named Tom Swift, and who employed -ly adverbs in nearly every sentence. That was probably the ultimate example of what you hate ...I recommend reading a bit of those stories, if you want a good laugh (or scream.) I think the cautionary lesson here, on this thread, is not to get hung up on only one aspect of your writing ...thinking the story will be fantastic if it doesn't contain any adverbs, etc. Adverbs do exist, and sometimes it's appropriate to use one. It can be a very economical way to convey the essence of an action, in cases where you don't want to go into detail over it.
I plan on writing a story that introduces not 1, not 2, but 3 wake up sequences. The ongoing (intentional) joke is that the sequences get shorter each time, as if the characters and world are aware of how boring those sequences are. The final instance has the protagonist being put in a very dangerous situation to wake them up. I know the joke itself won't land for everyone, but honestly I'm not writing for everyone. My humor is very dry, literal, and often silly. I think both our stories can function properly if we execute them correctly. Not everyone is going to be impressed or amused by it, but the point is that you are amused by it.
