Topic: Adverbs
Chapter written by: Xanaphia00
Level: Basic/Intermediate
Related genre(s): All.

What are adverbs?

Adverbs are a part of speech that modifies either a verb, an adjective or another adverb, commonly denoted by their "-ly" suffix. Contrast them with adjectives, which modify nouns alone.

Why should adverbs be avoided?

Adverbs often get a bad rap. They are useful parts of speech. Unfortunately, many beginning writers abuse them.

Adverbs are often a sign of telling when you should be showing. Consider the following sentence:

They kissed passionately.

You are telling the reader the kiss is passionate when you should be showing them the kiss is passionate instead. Compare it to this:

Closing the distance between them, she kissed him. Hungry lips pressed against his and encouraged him to open his mouth to her tongue. Hands slid up his back, over his neck and gripped his head.

Maybe you already built up the scene to be passionate, so there is no need to go into great detail about how the kiss is passionate. Why not use the adverb there? It's superfluous. The reader already knows the kiss is passionate because you've written a passionate scene.

There is often great debate among writers and editors about the use of adverbs. Some believe they are superfluous while others wonder why using twenty words when one will suffice is a good idea.

No matter where you fall on the adverb debate, everyone can agree that using them every sentence leads to lazy writing.

Now, how about when the verb and the adverb are at odds? Consider this:

She kissed him tepidly.

That is an interesting example. A reader doesn't expect a kiss to be tepid. In this case, it still might be more interesting to show how the kiss is tepid (their lips barely touched, she pulled away quickly, her mouth didn't open for his), but the pace of the scene will dictate the detail.

Adverbs aren't bad words to be avoided, contrary to popular cliches about writing.

However, don't use them as an excuse not to elaborate. If you are describing sufficiently, then you might not need them at all. Make sure you don't use an adverb to modify something already described. That is redundant.

There is an argument that the use of adverbs is an editing issue. Writers should feel free to let them flow freely when drafting, for the following reasons:

· The writer will see that they are using the adverb to tell, instead of show, and rewrite the scene to illustrate the point.

· The writer will see that they already built up the scene, and will be able to delete the adverb, without losing any meaning.

· The adverb is doing something interesting that can't be easily translated otherwise, and then the writer will keep it.

Writers who do not draft or self-edit while writing will find this technique less useful. It can lead to a habit of careless writing for the sake of productivity. For many, overusing adverbs in a draft can point out a reliance on them and teach a writer how to improve descriptive writing skills.

Practice

Rewrite the following sentences to show the emotions conveyed by the adverb:

She cried woefully.

He laughed excitedly.

They fought angrily.