It is no secret that most writers overuse adverbs, especially in early drafts of their work. Those pesky little words with the ly endings move stealthily, (there’s one of the little devils now), into their stories. Their main character might yell loudly, walk quickly, whisper quietly or grin happily. That’s all well and good until an editor declares the use of adverbs lazy writing and rejects the story as the work of an amateur.
Bad Writing
Mark Twain is attributed with saying, “When you see an adverb kill it.” Writers who use too many adverbs are often deemed lazy or lacking in confidence. Adverb usage is sometimes considered the hallmark of a new writer, who, when confronted, may argue that some of the best writers in the world use adverbs so what’s the problem?
The problem is it’s still not good writing. In his book, On Writing, Stephen King says, “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” According to Jan Freeman in her article “Deathly Adverbs,” The Boston Globe, May 20, 2007, “In an otherwise admiring review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” King observed that “Rowling never met an adverb she didn’t like.”
Adverbs: A Definition
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often end in ly but words that don’t have an ly ending can be adverbs too. For example, most, often, well and very are all adverbs.
Omitting Adverbs
Adverbs are redundant. In his book On Writing Well, William Zinsser says, “Most adverbs are unnecessary. Don’t tell us that the radio blared loudly – blare connotes loudness. Again and again in careless writing strong verbs are weakened by redundant adverbs.”
The new writer might question why adverbs are considered lazy writing. The answer is that employing an adverb to bolster a weak verb saves the writer from taking the time to think of a strong verb that doesn’t need an adverb. For example, “Jack really liked his teacher.” By choosing a stronger verb, the adverb, really, can be eliminated, “Jack admired his teacher.”
Perhaps the most egregious use of adverbs is in dialog attribution. “Put down the gun!” she shouted menacingly. “Give me back the hat,” he pleaded abjectly. “You are a loser,” she said contemptuously. In each of these examples, the adverbs can and should be omitted.
One piece of advice writers often receive for killing the adverbs in their writing is to use the Edit-Find feature in their word processing program. When the writer is ready to revise a piece of writing, he can type ly into the box, hit find and proceed to rewrite any sentence that contains an ly ending.
Adverbs, the Outcasts of the Writing World?
There are two schools of thought among writers regarding adverbs. Some shun them and strive to eliminate them from their work. Others feel that a sprinkling is acceptable. Perhaps the rule isn’t never use adverbs, it’s don’t overuse them.
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