September 6, 2025: The Adjective Assassin

Here’s a trick to improve your writing. And yes, I often break this rule.

The Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), rose to fame with two global masterpieces: Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

This week, I read about his advice: Beware of Adjectives.

Stevenson treated adjectives like enemies. Instead, he leaned on nouns and verbs to create motion and sound. Believing descriptive words were mainly for decoration, the author argued they weakened prose and should only be used when necessary.

He compared adjectives to salt. A pinch enhanced flavor, but too much ruined the dish.

Once, when he critiqued a friend’s manuscript, he told her to avoid the phrase “climbing roses.” Then he offered an alternative: “Roses twined themselves round the apple trees and fell in showers from the branches.”

I think he makes a good point.

His compelling wisdom is a wonderful warning which rings like a golden, blaring bell.