#Adverbs

[lannegarrett]

I know adverbs are controversial, but "said softly" means something different than "whispered" and this is the hill I will die on.

[physalian]

How To Make Your Writing Less Stiff 6

Part 5

Part 1

Adverbs

Gasp! Oh no. Dare come yet more writing advice burning adverbs at the stake? Vindictively, gleefully, manically dancing in the ashes?

No.

This is not about whether or not you should use them, but their frequency and obvious places to replace them. Most bad adverbs are the common ones that could be replaced by verbs we all know.

“She ran quickly” // “She sprinted”

“He said angrily” // “He snapped” “He chided” “He chastised”

vs.

“He ate voraciously”

“She swayed solemnly”

“She laughed sadly”

Bonus if you can add in some alliteration like ‘swayed solemnly’

If you can come up with an obvious verb to replace your verb + adverb combo, do so. If it would take more words or the closest applicable verb doesn’t hit the same vibe, then leave it. Adverbs should enhance the verb, not be redundant. Verbs shouldn’t be pretentious just to avoid them.

“She smiled happily” — most smiles are happy. Happily is redundant.

“He ran quickly” —a run is, by nature, quick

vs.

“She smiled sourly”

“He ran erratically”

Also!

The adverb need not always be after the verb.

“C accepted gladly” // “C gladly accepted”

But also

“Glad, C accepted”

“A shook their head resolutely” // “Resolute, A shook their head”

“The child skipped excitedly away.” // “Excited, the child skipped away.” // “The child skipped away, excited.”

English is flexible like that.

Which is what I mean with managing your adverb frequency. As most end in the -ly, too many in succession, on top of the repeat syntax of Subject - Verb - Adverb looks boring and dull (and so does beginning every sentence with the subject). It helps with your cadence and flow if you don’t have entire paragraphs at a time all starting with “He [verb]” or “She [verb]” or “They [verb].” We don't speak like this in natural conversation.

But at the end of the day, there are some juicy adverbs that have no equal without busting out the thesaurus for some obscure lexical nugget that no one would understand anyway.

[dionysiaproductions]

Reading articles on why folks hate adverbs and losing my mind. Who convinced you that complexity is passive? What caused you to read nuance as anxiety? How have you lived in a world where no one ever spoke kindly to you? And why do you prefer it?

[thepedanticbohemian]

"Adverbs pave the road to hell."

-- Stephen King

I have this written on a tiny spiral notepad next to my desk just in case I need reminding.

[itsawritblr]

Typical Creative Writing teacher:

[ailelie]

Why do people hate adverbs?

A person on reddit asked this question. This was my reply (shared here b/c as one of over 250 replies on reddit, I know it will be lost there).

People enjoy and gravitate toward vivid writing. Therefore, many writers strive to strengthen their writing by making it more vivid.

Adverbs are not evil. However, many writers misuse them because they are easy.

That said, I feel I need to point out that rules have levels again. In high school, teachers tell you to never use first person in academic writing. Then, in college, many professors ask that you do. High school teachers harp on the three-part thesis. College professors hate the three-part thesis. Etc.

Does this mean the rules in high school are wrong or bad? NO.

Rules do not exist in isolation. They are always in service of a goal. The three-part thesis is in service of students learning how to organize their essays and support their ideas. Using third person is in service of students learning to rely on evidence over their own, unsupported opinions. In college, professors expect students to no longer need those rules to still organize essays, support ideas, and rely on evidence.

We erect guardrails in the earlier stages to help teach the habits and build the knowledge we need to thrive in later stages when those guardrails are no longer necessary.

The rule against adverbs is in service of writing strong and vivid prose.

"No," she said softly.

But did she murmur, mumble, or whisper? Each of those make her "no" sound different.

This does not mean remove adverbs always, but rather to examine each use and ask: is this the clearest, most vivid image I can create?

Of course, vivid writing is not the only goal for writers. Other goals include the sound of writing. Maybe "said softly" isn't the most vivid option, but maybe it does fit the rhythm of the scene better. You have to decide which goal is more important in that moment.

Writing or, at least, editing is an active process. Word choice and order matter. Be deliberate.

[multi-fandom-lunatic]

shoutout to adverbs. LOVE adverbs. truly the most misunderstood type of word. no, they're not useless. they can be used to change pace and tone.

[an-american-in-norway]

Norwegian can modify expressions by using a wide selection of short adverbs with little or no stress, that can express doubt, politeness, irritation, etc. How you use these adverbs is one of the things that will indicate your degree of mastery/understanding in Norwegian.

The lady's marital status in the examples below doesn't actually change, the adverbs merely indicate what the speaker believes that status to be:

Hun er sikkert gift. I'm sure she's married. Hun er nok gift. She's probably married. Hun er vel gift. I'd guess she's married. Hun er visst gift. I've heard she's married. Hun er kanskje gift. Maybe she is married. Hun er neppe gift. I doubt she's married.

These unaccented adverbs have a fairly regular position in the sentence, they follow immediately after the verb. The same adverb can sometimes indicate slightly different nuances of meaning, depending on tone of voice and the context. Click the link for each one for more information.

From Exploring Norwegian Grammar by Kirsti Mac Donald and Marianne MacDonald.

[pompadourpink]

‘ello maman ! why do we use là to say here like je suis là insted of saying je suis ici ?

Hello dear,

"Là" refers to a general location and "ici" something more more specific. You can use là when stating that you've arrived somewhere (je suis là), that you will be in a certain location for a certain amount of time (je suis là pour une semaine), or that someone is not at work today (il n'est pas là aujourd'hui). However, ici would be used on maps to show you your exact location, looking for something (c'est pas ici), or to call over a pet while pointing at your feet for example.

Hope this helps! x

[social-mockingbird]

Okay you know what Mr. King sometimes adverbs are GOOD and FUN and make my writing more AWESOME

[xthescarletbitch]

me trying to decide which adverb to overuse

[dyingporcupine42]

Early to bed

Early to rise

Makes a man healthy

Wealthy and wise 🤓☝️

Late to rise

Late to bed

Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head Get out of my head

[dionysiaproductions]

I finished that no adverbs story I was challenging myself to write and the news from the trenches is mixed. I was only able to drop the adverbs completely after switching to 1st person and telling myself, "This character doesn't speak with adverbs"

I like how I ended up using more adjectives and how much the space/time words got pushed forward in the sentence structure

I do not like how many prepositions I ended up using. It was too many. Why were there so many? Also, dropping adverbs made it much harder to write coherently at a low word count

The weirdest part is how off kilter I feel reading it, because it has my trademark dark whimsy but it's so declarative. There's one line about a cart that I swear is screaming for a manner adverb but I've left it there, naked, like I'm a royal vizier commenting on the emperor's new clothes

Either way, the story has been submitted to the thing I was writing it for. It is now set free onto the world

[fred-waffen]

[hayleylovesjessica]

Watching Phantom Thread and wondering whether "mycologically," as in "Alma is about to put Reynolds in his place mycologically," is an actual word.

[uwudonoodle]

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here

Writblr will never convince me that adverbs are the enemy when Lolly taught me differently.