Ryfujk

I have the habit of using paired adjectives in my writing:

• The noise from the engine lulled her with its slow and monotonous rythim ...


• ... the lights on the ceiling filled the room in a soft and warm hue ...


• ... his skin was smooth and thin, like paper ...

The examples may be not 100% accurate since I don't usually write in english, but let's pretend.

Now, sometimes even single adjectives are frowned upon (What's with all the hate on adjectives and adverbs?) - so by logic paired adjectives shouldn't be any better.
I remember reading reviews criticizing this very aspect in published novels, but I never understood if there are solid reasons to back up this opinion.

So, are paired adjectives bad style - and if so, why?

Related question, in technical-writing:

• How do I get rid of the tic of paired adjectives, predicates, etc.?

The double adjectives might be creating a sentence rhythm that feels strong while you write because it seems to "double bounce" in a smooth way – in this case it's not a fast bounce that picks up speed, it is a slow bounce that causes the pace of reading to become deliberate, like when you take a deep breath and let it out. "One and two…, ahhhh"

I'm going to start a writing war and say ADJECTIVES ARE GOOD (in general), but what might be catching your critical eye is that you notice it keeps happening, and maybe the 2 adjectives are not really as strong as a well-chosen single word, or maybe the double-bounce slow pace doesn't match the tone you are trying to achieve for the scene.

It's ok, that's what re-writing is for. If the double adjective helps you get through the first draft, and you change it on the re-write, that's a normal part of writing. The first draft will end up having these language rhythms and figures of speech that come out of habit and familiarity. Now that you have recognized your pattern, you can decide how to deal with it.

It works in the context of slowing down, of slow breathing, of a character reassuring herself that everything is fine. Obviously you will want to break that pattern or avoid it when everything is not fine. You could even attach the quirk to one character who speaks in these rhythmic patterns as a way to hypnotize or reassure, and then later when you break the pattern we know they are not ok.

As a reader, adjectives are helpful in making a better image of what the writer is trying to say. But repeating adjectives that have almost the same or similar meaning (e.g. slow and monotonous, soft and warm, thin and frail) would be considered a bad style, as it would be counted as irrelevant explanation and waste of words, and would definitely bore the reader.

But pairing adjectives like smooth and thin, etc is fine as they both describe completely different properties of the paper and one of them can not replace the other.