Layering

Writing that is too full of adjectives and adverbs is typically considered weak. Too many adjectives may lead to “purple prose,” for example. Too many adverbs actually weaken the verbs they are supposed to prop up. In both cases, you can end up with a lot of excess words that bog your story down like a cruise passenger who insists on bringing their luggage into the life raft after the iceberg hits. One way to avoid this excess is to write the original story with no (or an absolute minimum) adjectives or adverbs at all. Later, go back through the story and “layer” in ones that seem absolutely necessary. It’s like putting icing on a cake.