Adjectives

I've been thinking a lot about adjectives and adverbs recently. I've been asked to read some work by two friends, and their two separate stories, and I find that I am just reading repetitions of words, fighting my way through endless adverbs and adjectives. It makes it really hard going, and really hard to dig underneath and find out what the story is actually trying to say, or what is actually happening.

Now, I use adjectives, as is clear, but do I use them too much? Am I a literary hypocrite?

I know that when I was 18 years old, I used a lot of adjectives, and I mean a lot. That was on my first book (may it remain hidden for ever more). With Charlie, or rather, Pure Phallusy, I used less in my first draft, I know I did, but I was still really harshly edited by my mum.

Seriously, whoever thinks that you cannot be edited by friends or family, think again. My mum is awesome, honest, and super mean. In a good way, but still, super mean. I'm not being biased with that either, just telling the truth. It was red line after red line, question mark after question mark, but, despite being dismayed, I knew she was right. That was the main thing that got me, I knew she was right. And in knowing that, I improved.

The next time we spoke, a week or so after I had my manuscript back, I was having to comfort her, and tell her it was all right, and that I wasn't upset or angry or hurt (hardly, anyway). She was the one upset, thinking she'd been too hard and clinical on me, and I was saying all the soothing, ego boosting things.

I know that since then, my writing has improved. I know it. I might not be a best seller, I might not have won any competitions or published any work (yet), but I know I am a far better writer for that criticism.

I attended a creative writing course a few times, and the teacher abhorred descriptions like "blond hair, blue eyes" etc, and he's passed that on to me somewhat.

So, coming back from my little digression, I've been reading my friend's work, and that's what I'm getting, "golden hair, emerald eyes, sable hair, sapphire eyes, silken skin, tiny waist, delicate hands"...And I don't know whether I'm just being a grump, or whether it could be improved.

Now, because of the efforts my mum and my creative writing teacher put in, I automatically snip out those sort of words, leaving a few in. If they were highlighted in another colour, I'd like to think there wouldn't be that many per page. Although, to test it out, I should really try it. But I'm not going to, because I've just spent three days doing that to some work, and it has utterly exhausted me.

Anyway, I do this automatically, because I'm not really very good when it comes to actually dictating the rules I know about writing, because writing is, for me, more about the feel of things. I feel when the sentence is too laboured, and the words don't fit. I'm not perfect though, which is why I need beta readers, but still, I do my writing by what my heart is telling me.

But, I think that one has to be a little accepting of being edited, and I was. The rules weren't laid out to me, but that's fine, because I didn't need them. Some people need them, and I think my friends are two of them, so I had to try and find someone much more intelligent than me to explain it to them, which is how I stumbled across this little gem.

http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/nobles-writing-blunders-excerpt

Despite what he says above, do too many adjectives make a piece of writing gratuitous? Or is it just good use of the language?

I think for me, it's definitely the former, rather than the latter.