I feel like, if you give writing advice, somewhere you have to mention adverbs. It’s like a requirement, you know?
I had no idea how controversial adverbs were until University. One of my tutors had posted a helpful grammar guide that I now wish I’d control+C’d and saved somewhere. For one thing, I’d be able to quote directly the part that went something like, “Now, I know you’ve all been told in school to never, ever even think of using an adverb…”
This is where I looked very confused, because I had heard no such thing.
To be fair, I moved around a lot as a kid, so maybe I just missed the ‘ADVERBS: DO NOT’ talk every time, but I’m pretty sure they were introduced as just another kind of word. I’m sure there are people who will absolutely die on the Adverb Hill, but I’m pretty sure that to most people, adverbs are fine as long as you only use them as they should be used, and that sparingly.
A verb is a word for an action. An adverb is a word that describes the action. Thus, in the sentence, “She slept soundly,” “slept” is the verb while “soundly” is the adverb.
An adjective describes a noun. An adverb modifies an adjective. Thus, in the sentence, “The biscuit was somewhat stale,” “stale” is the adjective while “somewhat” is the adverb.
An adverb can also modify another adverb. Thus, in the sentence, “He checked his answers very thoroughly,” both “very” and “thoroughly” are adverbs.
Clearly, adverbs exist for a reason. However, Stephen King said, “The road to Hell is paved with adverbs,” Anton Chekhov advised writers to “cross out as many […] adverbs as you can,” and Mark Twain declared himself “dead to adverbs.” We can probably assume those folks know/ knew a thing or two about writing, so what’s the problem?
The main issue people have with adverbs is that they can usually be cut out altogether by trading in the word you’re modifying. For example, “He walked quickly” can become “He hurried,” “He hustled,” “He fled,” etc. Notice how these are not only quicker to read, they’re also more interesting and, sometimes, give an idea of what’s happening. Similarly, “The light was very bright” becomes “The light was blinding.” Even in the adverb-on-adverb example above, “very thoroughly” could be “meticulously” or “obsessively.”
Brilliant as this may be when you’re making cuts to fit that wordcount you’re already pushing, it does have the effect of rendering the adverb as, “that thing you do when you can’t think of a better verb.” This does not add to its perceived coolness.
It doesn’t help when people misuse adverbs by throwing them in where they don’t add anything. Don’t say, “She laughed happily,” because laughs are usually happy; the fact of laughter makes us assume happiness. Adverbs should tell us something we wouldn’t assume from the word being used. Go ahead and tell us she laughed “bitterly,” “sarcastically,” or even “nastily,” though. That’s new information; it challenges the assumption we made when you told us she was laughing.
The bottom line is this; as a writer, every word you use needs to be there for a reason. If deleting your adverb doesn’t change the meaning of a sentence, it’s clearly not earning its place and needs to go.
So that’s adverbs done. Phew. I’ll do something fun next time, I promise.
Harriet Phoenix 