#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?

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Heya! Lately, I've noticed that almost every description I give has "-ly" tagged onto it. I feel like my writing is a sea of description ending in -ly. Is there a guide to explain how to get away from this?

Obligatory disclaimer: You do not have to delete all your adverbs in writing. There is always going to be a case when throwing in "quickly," "angrily," "sharply," etc will be fine. It's entirely up to you to decide what works when.

However, you will often see the advice to get rid of them, because they can be used as crutch words - they weaken your chance to use more descriptive writing, and that's always worth thinking about. Some places to pay particular attention to adverbs:

In Dialogue Tags

The biggest overuse of adverbs are in dialogue tags, but often you can more strongly convey emotion in both the dialogue and the description attached to it. Consider:

"What are you doing?" Jane asked angrily.

Versus:

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jane asked, her expression twisted into a scowl.

Simple stuff, but I've conveyed that Jane is angry by adjusting her words and describing her body language. This gives me the chance to reveal more about Jane in the vocabulary she uses when angry, and also in her body language. You can also swap some "said _ly" tags with clearly words like "snapped, yelled, whispered, hissed, etc" (but don't overdo that either.)

Weak Description Words

Really, very, barely, almost, kind of, etc - there's a lot of adverbs that get in the way of being more clear about the action and weakening the intent of the sentence. They're filler words that don't give you range to convey what you really want to convey. Consider the following:

Max almost reached out to comfort her.

Versus

Max could've wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer as she cried, but he couldn't work up the courage, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

Again, not the best example, but the second shows us more emotion from Max, and that's going to help your reader connect more to the character.

Should you always avoid adverbs? No, sometimes they're fine. But there's often a better word out there that makes your sentence stronger. "Sarah ran quickly" could become "Sarah sprinted". More specific words can paint a clearly picture. Galloped, crawled, dragged, and skipped are better than a -ly adverb.

When in doubt, try two versions of the same sentence. Does "Jake moved quickly" work better for a fast-paced action scene? Would "Chen lingered by the door, dragging himself forward as if forced" work better than "Chen reluctantly entered the room" for a slower scene? Fiddling with the language can often get you the right amount of adverbs to use. Trust your instincts!

[azus-reyan]

A day without adverbs.

Want a quick tip to improve your writing? Write simple; write straightforward.

Going through my recent writings, I've found that I’m not a sinner. I was amazed that I don’t use and abuse adverbs, though I can be as guilty as the next writer.

The adverb, for me, was the perfect tool for expressing action or emotion.

“He closed the door firmly.” sounds a little, for lack of a better word, firmer, than He closed the door.

One has a little umph to it, an extra energy that pushes action or emotion, if not both. The other? Well, it kind of falls flat where it is. 

Yet, you’ll meet these literary giants saying never use adverbs. Why? 

Hemingway would say, “Adverbs are the enemy of the verb.”

Stephen King: The road to hell is paved with adverbs.

Elmore Leonard: If an adverb became a character in one of my books, I’d have it shot. Immediately.

Writers hate adverbs because they should. They should because they weaken their writing. They weaken the verb, to be more specific. 

Adverbs add bloat to your writing. Or they underestimate the reader to know the action or emotion involved. 

If you say, “He shouted,” is there any point in adding, loudly?

If you say “She thought,” do you have to add quickly to the mix? Or do you think your readers won’t understand your intention?

Equipped with this understanding, I’ve gone back to my past writings. Anything from short stories and messages to long articles. The idea was to find every adverb and replace it with a stronger verb. 

I surprised myself by being somewhat of a miser for adverbs. I didn’t find as many adverbs as I expected, and I would change those I found to make them simple and straightforward. 

This practice made each of my writings better. My sentences were clearer and easier to understand. There was no need for: quickly, quietly, loudly, really, or definitely anymore.

My mind and tongue have become adverb-conscious, spotting them and avoiding their use at all costs.

There are times when adverbs fit better. When their use enhances your language, so don’t completely eliminate it from your repertoire. But keep in mind that more times than not, you can cut adverbs from your sentence—and it would be better for it.

Until then, keep on being adverb-conscious.

[pompadourpink]

Encore overview

Simple

Number > j'en veux encore - I want some more

Continuity > tu es encore là-bas ? - are you still there?

Once again > tu t'es encore trompé - you made another mistake

Only > hier encore, je l'ai eu au téléphone - just yesterday I had him on the phone

Compound

Over and over again > elle est déçue, encore et encore - she's disappointed, over and over again

Comparison - je cours encore plus vite que toi - I run even faster than you

And yet (when at the beginning) > et encore, je ne suis pas sûre - and yet, I'm not sure

If at all (when at the end) > il devrait finir dans une heure, et encore - he should be done in an hour, if at all

If at least > si encore il était ponctuel ! - if at least he was on time!

Absolutely > de toutes les bêtises que tu as fait cette année, celle-ci est encore la pire - out of all the stupid things you did this year this one is absolutely the worst one

Rather > elle déteste tellement les épinards qu’elle préfère encore manger des choux de Bruxelles à tous les repas - she hates spinach so much she’d rather eat Brussels sprouts for every meal

Even/still now > encore maintenant, je fais attention - even now, I'm careful

For much longer > tu en as encore pour longtemps ? - are you going to take much longer?

Even better > c'est encore mieux comme ça - it's even better this way

Even more > j'en ai acheté encore plus - I bought even more

Even less - j'en prends encore moins - I take even less

Even worse - il est encore pire (que) dans mon souvenir - he's even worse than I remember

What now? (annoyed) > tu veux quoi encore ? - what do you want now?

Although + subj > encore que j'aie un doute - although I have a doubt

Negations

Not yet > je ne sais pas encore - I don't know yet

Still not (neutral tone) > nous ne sommes pas encore partis - we still haven't left

Not again! > Viré ? Pas encore ! - Fired? Not again!

Expressions

I'd hope so (stunned/annoyed) > encore heureux! "better (be) happy (about it)"

Keep hoping > cours toujours! "keep running"

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[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.

[petrichoremojis]

[ID: a drawing of a speech bubble containing a large green checkmark. next to the speech bubble is a large purple squiggle. a brown arrow points from that to a light blue circle. end ID]

hi we're still around, just going through it. here's a quick symbol for the word "supposedly"

[dragon-susceptible]

writing advice: try to avoid adverbs, use descriptive language and dialogue to imply the feeling you want to convey, do not overuse

me, using adverbs in four different dialogue tags in a row: YOU CAN PRY MY ADVERBS OUT OF MY COLD DEAD HANDS

[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.

[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

[voidthescribe]

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

[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