Juxtaposition: Electrifying Adverbs

And by "electrifying" I don't mean "electrocuting." Even though that's sometimes necessary.

I detest adverbs much like a child hates Skittles after eating a whole bowl full. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft. So many and so yummy going down...

Yeah, you know. Before long, your stomach lining curses at you ("What have you done to me, you fool?!") and the very sight of one innocent little candy turns your lower intestine to mush.

Such was my youth with the adverb. They started out sweet and colorful, but left the gut of my story feeling rotted and hollow.

I vowed never again to eat another of these "writing crutches." After all, it wasn't just me. Everything I read told me to strike these cretins from the page. And with good reason. Adverbs? Redundant. Adjectives? Just as bad. Nothing but poor noun's spruce.

I've plucked them from almost every inch of my prose. And I breathe a sigh of relief.

But this isn't entirely warranted. Adjectives and *shudder* even adverbs have their place. Now I can pick the right ones. And the right moments. Use them not as defaults, but as tools to juxtaposition ideas.

If used for good, they can actually add depth to a sentence by combining two ideas.

Instead of...

She smiled happily.

We get...

She smiled hollowly.

And that, my friends, is what my adverbs should be used for. Instead of plain Skittles, we get the zazzle of sour Skittles. Still, even then, I would much rather use a metaphor.

She smiled as tears seamed her eyelids.

But to each his own.