Adverbs and Verbs

One of the times I submitted a story the editor gave me some advice on adverbs. The advice was "Don't use them." At first I was confused because adverbs can add details to the story. As I went through and removed the offending words I realized that this fellow made a good point. When I removed the adverbs it forced me to think of more descriptive verbs.

Kenneth slowly walked over to Janice. He picked up her hand gently and carefully rubbed the back of it. He looked at her longingly and spoke softly in her ear.

A cheesy example, but hopefully it will get you thinking about all of the verbs available.

Kenneth ambled over to Janice. He cradled her hand and caressed the back of it. He gazed at her and murmured in her ear.

While an adverb here or there doesn't hurt anything, I find it is good to go through and just see if I can be more descriptive in the verb itself.