Soapbox

[AbuHossam]

Getting on my soapbox for a second. just my opinion.

I keep seeing all-or-nothing advice thrown around in this group: never use adverbs, show don’t tell, don’t be cliche, you probably get my drift. and okay, maybe some people need to hear that, but i think giving that advice to people whose work you’ve never read can be harmful.

Never use adverbs: adverbs are part of most ********s for a reason, and this will come back to “show, don’t tell.” what’s wrong with the occasional adverb, man? sometimes i don’t want the runaround.

IMHO, “She smiled tiredly,” is fine. it works. every sentence doesn’t have to be perfect poetry, especially when that makes the alternatives, “The corners of her mouth struggled to lift, but she managed something like a smile,” or “She offered a tired smile.”

Again, both are fine, but both are also more complicated than just using “tiredly.” if that’s your thing, cool, but i think it’s okay to simplify things sometimes.