Adverbs can be your friends WAS: Re: The Return of Tom Swift

[annemehr]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Kirstini" <kirst_inn at y...> wrote:
> I was rereading PoA in the bath last night with the adverb thread in 
> mind, when this little gem jumped out at me. And then made me cringe 
> somewhat.
> *******
> 'There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!' said Ron, 
> hotly.
>  'You didn't seem so sure when you were telling Harry it was a 
> sheep,' said Hermione, coolly.
> *******
> Why did she do that? Why didn't anyone stop her?

Annemehr:
I'll bet she just thought it was funny.  After all, she's said she
puts in what she herself finds funny.  And maybe her editor thought it
fit in well enough with the style and humor of the story -- or maybe
only had the time or clout to look out for even worse things...

It doesn't bother me, though.  It's the sort of thing that puts a grin
on my face as I read -- as if it's a "private" joke between the author
and the reader. I suppose the danger in it is that it can pull you
right out of the story if you find it jarring.

As for adverbs in general, I find them quite useful.  We know
perfectly well from this list that you can type a sentence in a
certain context and still have a dozen different interpretations made
by the readers.  I believe it was Barb who suggested that you could
set the tone by the surrounding sentences and phrases other than
adverbs; however, her examples struck me as generally much more wordy.
 There is a certain economy in using adverbs, which I find convey a
lot of information quickly, unless of course you can do it even better
with the verb itself ("Hermione whispered").

My only complaint was there was absolutely too much snarling in OoP--

--Annemehr growled, doggedly