Adjectives and adverbs are the words used to describe either nouns or verbs, respectively. They can bring beauty and color to your sentences, but they can also weigh them down and ruin the flow or clarity of your writing.

Before I give you more information about the different categories of adjectives and adverbs, I think it’s important to touch on the editorial debate around the use of these descriptive words.

In the last century or so, there has been a move toward writing more simply with fewer and fewer descriptive words. Writers like Ernest Hemingway wrote with an almost aggressive under-usage of adjectives and adverbs, stripping their writing of as many descriptive words as possible.

The simplest way to do this is to find nouns and verbs that are more specific. For instance, instead of saying,

Margie ran quickly through the green grass. (quickly=adverb; green=adjective)

you could say,

Margie raced through the field.

The second sentence doesn’t simply state the action in fewer words either. “Racing” gives the sentence a stronger feeling of urgency, and “field” gives us a clearer picture of where Margie is.

This can be a good practice to help you write stronger, more specific sentences, and thereby give your readers a clearer picture of what’s happening in your story.

However, this isn’t always possible. We have adjectives and adverbs for a reason; sometimes there are nouns or verbs that don’t have a good replacement. For example, the phrase “creaky stairs” doesn’t have a replacement. We don’t have a more specific noun for “stairs,” so it requires an adjective in order to be given more specificity.

Also, sometimes you might be writing a novel set in the 19th century, so you choose to write in an older syntax style to invoke the feeling of a bygone era for your reader. In this case, you may want your writing style to reflect the more effusive language of the past. This can also be useful in some fantasy to give your writing a more magical feel.

All in all, use your discernment as you navigate your usage of these words.