Adverbs - Pesky fun little words - smiley :-)

Thanks for joining me during my editing journey. The consensus for using adverbs in creative writing is STAY AWAY from them. There is no need for them and distracts from the writing.

This is true. I could say
His stomach growled hungrily in anticipation of munching on the juicy cheeseburger he held in his hand. or 
His stomach growled with hunger as his mouth watered in anticipation of munching on the cheeseburger he held in his hand.

Each sentence says the same thing only- adverb alert - with and without an adverb. My problem is I love adverbs. Take a verb and add ly. They are fun.
happily
joyfully
carefully
tentatively
really
very
jointly
disgustingly

My current project is editing the Baby Girl books.When I published them they had been edited a single time. As I work through the latest edits I realize I have a ton of adverbs. When I rerelease them they will be short the many adverbs they currently - adverb - contain. 

Should writers stay away from adverbs all the time. I say, "Heck no!" We should use them sparingly - adverb - but it doesn't mean we have to stop using them completely - adverb-. And I can use them on my blog whenever I want. I can go adverb crazy here! singly, menacingly, dutifully, gently, patiently, sorrowfully... You get the idea.

A before excerpt from Moonlighting in Paris:

Only a couple days after the Halette incident, and a few days before mine and Didier’s wedding, my latest escapade still weighed heavily on my mind and my thoughts raced about as if going around and around a track. I felt I couldn’t stay, as eventually her body would turn up, and I couldn’t risk that type of publicity. The event had occurred near an affair I was hosting. I had my ducks in a row, as always, but I wasn’t sure how I would react when Halette’s body hit the news. In my past life I had performed many questionable acts, but I had never either purposely, or by accident, killed another human being. Mr. Dancy Eyes dumping her body also brought my past stinging front and center in my life, looming around my very presence. Didier was wonderful, but he didn’t truly know me. He knew Justine. His words, Justine will you marry me? reverberated against the gray matter inside my head. How could I enter into a marriage with a man I had never been truthful with from the beginning? I loved being Justine and the woman at his side, but marriage? What if we had children? Would their lives be in danger as well? Would we have to provide them with personal bodyguards? Worse, they would have a mother they knew, but not really. I lived with a web of lies and deceit entangling me, which continued to twist around my soul. I couldn’t do that to anyone else. Not my future children and not Didier. He meant more to me than to entrap him in my morbid life. People around me - the true me - died. I had decided I couldn’t marry him. Why did he have to propose and ruin such a good thing? I didn’t know how to tell him. I had to come up with a plan.

Did you count the number of adverbs? I found 7. Here is the same excerpt mostly adverb free.

A couple days after the Halette incident, and a few days before mine and Didier’s wedding, my latest escapade still weighed on my mind like a load of gold bricks. My thoughts raced in circles. I couldn’t stay, fearing Halettes’ body turning up bringing negative publicity and hurting Didier. The event occurred near an affair I hosted. I took care to conceal my part in her death but I wasn’t sure of my reaction when Halette’s body hit the news. In my past life I performed many questionable acts, but I never on purpose or by accident, killed another human being. 

Mr. Dancy Eyes dumping her body brought my past stinging front and center in my life, looming around my very presence. Didier was wonderful, but he didn’t know me. He knew Justine. His words, Justine will you marry me? reverberated against the gray matter inside my head. It wouldn’t be right to marry a man I hadn't been truthful with him from the beginning? I loved being Justine and the woman at his side, but marriage? What if we had children? Would they be in danger and need personal bodyguards? Worse, they would have a fake mother!


I lived with a web of lies and deceit entangling me, which continued to twist around my soul. I didn’t want to force that on anyone else - not my future children and not Didier. He meant more to me than to entrap him in my morbid life. People around me - the true me - died. I decided marrying him wasn’t possible. His proposal ruined a good thing - correction I ruined a good thing when I flipped Halette over the railing. How would I tell him? The self doubt and shame bouncing in my head made me aware I needed a plan.

Better? I not only - adverb - took out adverbs but took out other weak words.

One of my most commonly - adverb - found mistakes in creative writing is the use of adverbs. 
Does the use of adverbs keep me from reading a book? Certainly - adverb- not.
Does the use of adverbs make me think the writer less talented than a writer who doesn't? Probably- adverb - not.
So long as a book has a good plot and strong characters I most likely -adverb - will not notice their use of adverbs. Correction, I do notice but don't care. I can't think of any fiction book I've read that contained no adverbs. Someone put them into the language so they are there for a reason.Use them carefully - adverb.

Did you find any adverbs in this post that I didn't point out. If so write them below along with your favorite adverbs.