What Editors Hate: Adjectives
I am introducing a series of posts that is on writing craft. I will start with why editors hate adjectives in prose. Let's listen to what veteran editor and agent, Noah Lukeman has said about adjectives:"[one of] the quickest and easiest way[s] to reject a manuscript is to look for the overuse, or misuse, of adjectives...." Designed to modify nouns by making them more vivid, adjectives, when overused, do the opposite. And editors hate that, and when they hate something, often, they just reject it and move on to the next manuscript. Lukeman gives six reasons why manuscripts heavy on adjectives (and adverbs) generally don't work: 1. More is less : he means that the piles of adjectives will start detracting from each other, and begin to eclipse the vividness they seek to give. So by the time the reader gets to the noun, he or she may not remember the modifiers. 2. Demeaning the reader : he means that overuse imposes on the reader's imagination. It takes the fun out o...