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I hope for the rest of my life I continue to think of Schoolhouse Rock first whenever I hear the word "adverbs." It's a great place to begin before all the nose scrunching and hair pulling begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDwXHTcodNg

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This will be on my bulletin board in my writing space: “I saw it all cascade in my head and, for a moment, I was going to cry, but then I remembered I was a grown human professional middle-aged lady and not everything needed to be a fucking crisis.” Yesyesyes. A couple of hours before I meet with my editor (still a bizarre phrase for me ... with that pronoun!), this is what I needed to hear. Thank you, Jami!

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Sometimes an adverb is the right choice, says the editor. You all might be interested to know that parenthetical comments in a screenplay, like BOB (whispers) are called wrylies. Because (wryly) used to be such a common parenthetical comment. Hollywood loves an inside joke.

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Feb 1Liked by Jami Attenberg

I like adverbs when they’re used judiciously 😉

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Feb 2Liked by Jami Attenberg

"Justice for wryly!" he commented emphatically.

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So many of us grew up on Steven King's "On Writing" diatribe about adverbs, and as a writing teacher I saw adverbs sorely overused (there! I used one!). But like any such guidelines, I also find moments where I must consciously ignore them. So, brava, for keeping your wryly.

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Feb 2Liked by Jami Attenberg

Kinda liking the “half smile” though...

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