A friend of mine persuaded me to write this blog post, so here we are.
I've been writing for some years now. I've watched videos, listened to others' advice, always notice how a book is written (Can't help it!) and taken some free courses. It's been a long journey filled with struggles and few successes.
Could I make things easier for me? Yes, but where's the fun in that?
On to the point. There are many who suggest removing adverbs, dialogue tags, overused words, try to balance show and tell, and such, from our books. It's a good advice but do you really need to?
Yes, and no. I don't believe we need to eradicate every adverb from our manuscript. We can use tell and still hook the reader.
How?
It's how you write the story and what kind of emotions you will evoke to the reader that is important. Not if you use strong verbs or if your writing is flawless. If you have the choice between a strong verb and an adverb, make the right choice for your book. Sometimes, what your story needs is an adverb.
Recently, I read a book from a famous author but at the time; he was just as small as I am right now. At the beginning of his career. In the book, there were tags, adverbs and many other things I didn't like. Did it stop me from reading the book in one sitting? No. Do you know why? Because I was fully emerged in the story, and wanted to know what happened to the lead character, his friends and whether they'll make it out alive from the deadly adventure.
So, bottom line: the important thing is to make your readers feel. Many years might pass from the day they'll read your story. They may not even remember the story itself, but what will stay in their hearts and deep in the souls is the emotions they felt at that precise moment.
Did you make the reader cry? Throw the book across the room in a fit of anger? Laughed? Rooted for a side character? Then you have won. You made them feel.
Readers don't care whether we forget a comma or care about what's acceptable according to grammar rules. What they need is a great story, characters to connect and for you to write the next book...faster!
That is why books are forever. They reach to our souls on a deeper level than anyone can understand.
So let's write a great story! Now stop procrastinating, pour yourself a glass of wine and relax. You've got this!