Adjectives – One Minute to Better Writing

I’m in the bookstore browsing and I pick up what looks like it might be an interesting book.  I page to the first page of the story and read:  Sally felt horrible.

Horrible is an adjective.  As we all know an adjective is a modifier, it adds information about words, specifically nouns and pronouns.

So Sally felt, past tense, horrible.  How past tense is it?  Or is it written that way because we are a voyeur looking into her world? 

She feels horrible, so?  How am I suppose to feel about that?  I’m wondering if she is standing over the quickly cooling body of her husband?  Is she feeling dumbstruck at coming upon the gruesome scene, or guilty for having done it?

Am I picturing her holding her sides while she shakes uncontrollably?  Is she feeling the weight of the world descending on her as she realizes her husband is gone, and her life with it?  Does she notice the trail of blood going off down the hallway along with a quickly retreating shadow?

If I’m imagining that, why didn’t the author?  And for goodness sake why didn’t the author write it that way?  I bought the book to tell me a story, not to have to make it up myself in my head.

Stop relying on adjectives to carry your story.  Tell your story.  Grab the reader and get right into it.