Where Did the Adverbs Go?

It's a sunny Spring Saturday in Alabama and the Book Festival is taking place in Montgomery.  While there were a number of vendors pushing literacy, books, religion, the arts, history and even food, there were also several workshops including Writing Fiction, Pitching and Submitting to Publishers, and Screenwriting.  I attended a few, you had to register early via the website (www.alabamabookfestival.org), and I learned quite a bit.  Some authors were more memorable than others and I've added some titles to my TBR list on GoodReads.  I enjoyed the workshop with Vanessa Davis Griggs because she touched on some down-home tips for writing and publishing.  I skipped the talk with Natasha Tretheway, former US Poet Laureate, because I attended her inauguration in Washington, DC back in 2012.  Though I am thrilled that she was featured.

But for all the good, there was a phrase that echoed throughout the day that brought a frown to my otherwise happy face.  "Stay away from adverbs."  What? Why? Is that even possible?  When some of these questions were posed to the authors, most responded that publishers frown upon adverbs.  Who are these people who wish to do away with an entire part of speech?  The English teacher buried deep inside of me bubbled to the surface bringing with her the memory of SchoolHouse Rock videos and I became teary-eyed by the sound of Lolly, Lolly, Lolly playing in my head.  In case you don't recall it right away, check out the video.

I love reading and have loved it ever since I can remember.  I love to read well-written books by writers who enjoy using language to titillate and inspire.  Adverbs are an underused part of speech that appeal to those of us who do more than read books.  I am saddened for that sector of the population who booksellers don't include in the "masses" that they sell their books to.  It leads one to make the hard decision of writing to sell or writing to write.

All in all, I enjoyed my trip to Montgomery, Alabama and the Book Festival.  I'll have to return to actually do some sightseeing in the near future.  In the meantime, I cry for the adverbs.

Until Next Time...