Day 10: Adverbedly

I’m reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with my daughter, and as we’ve been through the previous two books as well I can’t help notice the numerous adverbs J.K. Rowling uses. I don’t have as much dislike for adverbs as some writers, but I think some restraint is definitely in order most of the time. I can’t argue that it hurt Rowling’s success with the Harry Potter series, but she’s also done a masterful job of creating an incredible world, and characters. Most of us don’t have those same chops, and so we create weaker prose as we have our characters excitedly, or hurriedly running to and fro. Not everyone will agree, and there are times to use them; they are a valid part of grammar after all. But it’s also worthwhile during your edits to try and pluck them out, just to see if what’s left is stronger.