I may have mentioned in my post a couple of months ago that inept critics, academics and bloggers may create awareness of a certain usage simply to give themselves something to write about. That was me in my curmudgeonly mode. Now I hope to redeem myself by committing a like deed for positive reasons: creating awareness because I see overuse and misuse of a word.
And to show how much time good writers spend on choosing their words (or how obsessive certain people get about word choice), I’m going to spend this whole article on the usage of one word: instinctively.
Show and Tell
The first argument against using any adverb is when it is being used to prop up a dull verb. Showing an action or emotion is more effective than telling about it. Continue reading “Don’t Write “Instinctively””