Oct 1, 2013 / The Craft of Writing

Craft of Writing: Down with Adverbs?

For most people the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Author Stephen King says that, for writers, the road to hell is paved with adverbs. Let’s do a quick refresher on what an adverb is, learn why adverbs get such a bad rap, and why you might choose to think very carefully before you use adverbs in your writing. (See what I did there?)

A brief refresher

Before we talk about why we might want to kick adverbs to the curb, let’s take a detour to grammar school for a quick refresher test on the definition of an adverb and how we use them in sentences.

From among the options, choose the best definition for an adverb. (No talking. Eyes on your own paper.)

  1. An adverb is an ad that gets placed on your WordPress.com site as part of the Google Adverbs program.
  2. Adverb is when the sound from an amplified musical instrument sort of bounces around the room.
  3. An adverb modifies a verb. Sometimes and adverb modifies an adjective or sometimes even another adverb. Example: He walked slowly. (Here, slowly is the adverb, modifying the verb walked.)

If you’re still a little fuzzy on the precise use of adverbs in sentences, check out this short video from the old Schoolhouse Rock series: Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here.

The adverb: writing friend or foe?

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and sometimes even other adverbs. They’ll often tell us “how” something was done, e.g., He walked slowly. Or, He walked very sowly. But, do adverbs clarify, or are they crutches for lazy or rushed writers who rely on adverbs to do their verbs’ heavy lifting? What if, instead of using adverbs to tell us how the man walked, we swapped in a stronger verb to show us how he walked?

Consider these alternatives:

  • The man plodded.
  • The man ambled.
  • The man trudged.

In each instance above, our new verb not only better describes how the man moved, it creates a picture in the reader’s mind. Stronger verbs can also convey emotion more effectively, which makes for stronger, vivid writing.

Still not convinced? Here’s what Stephen King has to say on adverbs:

The adverb is not your friend.

Adverbs … are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They’re the ones that usually end in -ly. Adverbs, like the passive voice, seem to have been created with the timid writer in mind. … With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not getting the point or the picture across.

Consider the sentence He closed the door firmly. It’s by no means a terrible sentence (at least it’s got an active verb going for it), but ask yourself if firmly really has to be there. You can argue that it expresses a degree of difference between He closed the door and He slammed the door, and you’ll get no argument from me … but what about context? What about all the enlightening (not to say emotionally moving) prose which came before He closed the door firmly? Shouldn’t this tell us how he closed the door? And if the foregoing prose does tell us, isn’t firmly an extra word? Isn’t it redundant?

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    1. Wow! what a picture! I think it’s time for what’s his name, THE LAST WORD.
      And say good night, Gracie.
      Goodnight Gracie (said gracie–that’s how old I am).

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  4. I have had no idea about the negative effect of overusing adverbs when I read this article. It’s really useful. Thanks for sharing it. I’ll keep in mind for the next writings.

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  6. I am returning to 3rd grade…in my memory of course! I do not understand grammar as well as I would like. This post helped. Thanks!

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    1. deliciously ambiguous. Now did you mean ‘taking’? A poet gives. Maybe you mean ‘talking.’ I strongly identify. It’s as though some one else were whispering in my ear, guiding my pen. No, no, don’t respond. I want to wonder a while.

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  8. When I trip over an adverb, it is never accidental, it seems. Long ago, something I read by Hemingway said to eliminate all unnecessary words. You find that adverbs are, most often, unnecessary, and that there’s a cleaner, quicker way to say something. Hemingway talked about ‘elegant’ prose, and you do not create elegant prose through a preponderance of adverbs. However, when I speak, I throw in adverbs willy-nilly. I suspect they’re overused because they provide emphasis and an ‘easy’ sense of ‘drama.’

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  9. Excellent post! I’ve listened to this advice from many other and better authors than I, and I employ it whenever I am paying attention and not in a hurry. If I have the luxury of having time to edit and revise, I puck those pesky adverbs out, as per the Honorable Mr. King’s advice. I would liken them to baobab trees on Asteroid B-612, but no one would know what I was talking about.

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    1. The baobab (which I’ve twice misspelled) tree–Was that an Ogden Nash, maybe a Kipling, or, gee, could it be what’s his name, sci-fi dude, wrote about dandelion tea……genius, his writing should be read aloud………….senior moments, moments senior….it will come to me after I’ve posted…………….

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  10. Thank you. It’s never occurred to me that adverbs were the lazy way to go. I’ll consider my word choices more thoughtfully now.

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  14. I love this. It is so important to use other words to get a reader to become a part of the adventures sink into the story instead of watching through a frosted glass window.
    Robin

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  15. Reblogged this on One Great Public Radio Intern and commented:
    They pulled me in with a video of my FAVORITE School House Rock episode, “Lolly Lolly Adverbs;” they kept me with the fabulous quote from Stephen King’s “On Writing.”

    As communicators, we need to be keen on use of language and not be lazy “adverb offenders.”

    Now I’m going to go feed my need for School House Rock episodes on YouTube. Beyond Lolly Lolly Adverbs, I freaking LOVED the Superhero Verbman. That music is beyond awesome!!!

    Which episode is your favorite? I’d love to hear from you.

    -Tina

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  16. Too many adverbs are maybe lazy, but why avoid them altogether? Variety is the spice of life. I agree wholeheartedly with Mysoresoul (and yes, I totally assume that blatantly used adverb): language evolves all the time, and some “rules” are made to be broken eventually. Writing’s a bit like cookery: each chef throws in his own favourite ingredients and comes up with tastily different dishes.

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  18. Thoroughly, entirely, completely, fully, totally disagree at first.
    Timidly, wonderingly, questioningly turn to The Almighty Google.

    Surprisedly, happily, unexpectedly find Mark Twain:
    “I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. … There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,–the confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,–and this adverb plague is one of them. … Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won’t.”

    Laughingly saw that even Master Twain used “absolutely nothing”, maybe not realizing that absolutely is an adverb.

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  20. Reblogged this on Nora's Empty Nest and commented:
    I’m reblogging this, because I agree that using stronger verbs in place of adverbs is a great way to write tighter and more powerful scenes. This blog says it well. Still, I am quite sure I have over-used adverbs sometimes, as have most of us. I’ll be more alert to it now. (I also just love Schoolhouse Rock videos!!)

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