A Writer's Alphabet of Concepts and Clues

More of the "little" things in writing: adjectives, articles, and adverbs

The 1992 revision 16 version of A WRITER'S ALPHABET OF CONCEPTS AND CLUES includes the following on Adjectives and Adverbs: Adjectives function as modifiers of nouns and pronouns by describing, defining, specifying, or qualifying. They usually come between article and noun or after linking verbs. Adjectives can change form to show comparison. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or whole sentences. They can appear almost anywhere in the sentence as long as it is clear what they modify. Often adverbs end in -ly. Like adjectives, adverbs can change form to indicate comparison.

Since then, I have added the following:

Lunsford and Connors: "A, and or the (are) the most common adjectives (which function as articles). A and an are indefinite and do not specify the nouns they modify.... The is definite or specific." (The St. Martin's Press Handbook, 2nd edition, 731)

Troyka: "The differences between adjectives and adverbs relate to how they function. Adjectives modify NOUNS and PRONOUNS. Adverbs modify VERBS, adjectives, and other adverbs. What's the same about adjectives and adverbs is that they are both MODIFIERS--that is, words and groups of words that describe other words" (The Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, 6th edition., 250).

Zinsser on adverbs: "Most adverbs are unnecessary. You will clutter your sentences and annoy the reader if you choose a verb that has a specific meaning and then add an adverb that carries the same meaning. Don't tell us that the radio blared loudly; "blare" connotes loudness. Don't write that someone clenched his teeth tightly; there's no other way to clench teeth. Again and again in careless writing, strong verbs are weakened by redundant adverbs. So are adjectives and other parts of speech" (On Writing Well, 6th edition, 69)

Zinsser on adjectives: "Most adjectives are also unnecessary. Like adverbs they are sprinkled into sentences by writers who don't stop to think that the concept is already in the noun. This type of prose is littered with precipitous cliffs and lacy spiderwebs, or with adjectives denoting the color of an object whose color is well known: yellow daffodils and brownish dirt. If you want to make a value judgement about daffodils, choose an adjective like 'garish.' If you're in a part of the country where the dirt is red, feel free to mention the red dirt. Those adjectives would do a job that the noun alone wouldn't be doing" (On Writing Well, 6th edition, 70)

Ezra Pound on adjectives: "Use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something. Don't use an expression such as 'dim land of peace.' It dulls the image. It mixes an abstract with the concrete. It comes from the writer's not realizing that the natural object is always the adequate symbol. Go in fear of abstractions." (April 10 entry, 2008 poetry speaks the poetry lovers calendar, sourcebooks)