Adeptly Avoiding Adverbs (And Allowing Them Adroitly)
When I wrote my second installment of the “Rookie Mistakes” series, I mentioned adverbs, and suggested that adverbs are a complex enough topic to warrant their own post. This is that post.
Many famous writers, from Mark Twain to Stephen King, have suggested that the only good adverb is one left out of your draft. As with lots of advice offered glibly, this comes from a good place, but it has to be understood in context of why adverbs cause problems. Otherwise, you’ll be editing out adverbs without improving your writing. A poorly constructed sentence without adverbs is still poorly constructed.
An adverb is a descriptor that modifies a verb in a sentence. In English, adverbs often end in -ly, but not always. In fact, often and always are both adverbs, modifying the verb end to express frequency. But adverbs start getting more tricky when you realize they can also modify adjectives, other adverbs, or entire sentences.
Most of the time, adverbs are troublesome with regards to how they modify verbs. So why (or perhaps, when) are adverbs a problem?
The Problem with Adverbs
The simple answer is that adverbs are a problem 1) when there’s a better verb that eliminates the need for an adverb, 2) when the adverb doesn’t make sense with the verb, and 3) when the adverb is redundant with the verb. Consider the following examples:
Major Standers aggressively ordered the line cooks to fry the chicken.
In this sentence, the adverb conveys meaning, but the same meaning could be conveyed with a stronger verb, so maybe it would read: Major Standers barked at the line cooks to fry the chicken.
Penelope raced slowly to the door.
Because the verb race implies speed, the adverb undermines the sentence and adds confusion. A new verb that captures the high energy of raced without the implication of speed could help; perhaps the edited sentence would read: Penelope strode to the door.
Frank shouted loudly and grabbed his cramping leg.
Because shouted implies great volume, the adverb isn’t adding anything. It can be cut without losing any meaning, so perhaps the sentence could read: Frank shouted and grabbed his cramping leg.
In all three of those cases, you can improve the sentence by choosing the right verb and forgoing adverbs. The best writing never uses more words than necessary to convey meaning. The problem with adverbs boils down to using unnecessary words, making your writing feel cluttered and unfocused. An overuse of adverbs smacks of immature writing and lack of sufficient editing.
But of course, writing wouldn’t be an artform if there were no exceptions to rules and if guidelines were rigid structures from which no one could stray. If you pull out a Steven King or Mark Twain novel, you will find some adverbs. So when is an adverb OK?
Using Adverbs Well
The best advice about adverbs is not unlike dietary advice about sugar: use sparingly. It’s easy to get hooked and you often won’t see the damage it’s causing until your pants don’t fit. (In this analogy, ill-fitting pants are awkward sentences.)
Let’s use a single adverb phrase for an example: “gently mauled.” Off-the-cuff, that seems like a bad phrase that goes against rule 2; mauled implies ruthless violence, not gentleness. And in most cases, that would be true.
“The CGI bear gently mauled Leonardo DiCaprio,” is nonsense. If you’ve seen The Revenant, you know the scene in question was brutal and horrifying. There was nothing gentle about the bear’s actions.
But consider the same phrase used in a new context: “The kitten gently mauled my feet.” Now, the adverb is helping to provide some useful nuance and flavor to the verb. Anyone who’s ever owned a kitten can imagine a kitten pouncing at your feet in play. In many ways, mauled is a wonderful verb here, but the adverb gently helps clarify the unique combination of ferocity and silliness that kittens exude.
Adverbs can be a helpful way to add dimension and clarity when you need to write something (or about something) that is subverting an expectation. Sometimes, life sends paradoxical situations, like a mother smiling sadly as her children head off to college. Sometimes, hyperbole alone can make your point, like a fiancé who loves endlessly.
Sometimes, an adverb is exactly what you need.
Look Before You Leap
Always and never are probably the two riskiest adverbs to use. Writing is such a subjective craft; anyone who tells you you must always or never do something is either wrong or over-simplifying.
Language remains nebulous and flexible. Because language is so flexible, there will be situations in which there is no perfect verb, and thus you can safely modify an imperfect verb. But you may also face situations where, lacking a perfect verb, you should select a perfectly suitable verb and still avoid adverbs. Know the difference! Someday, if you get really good, you can create a new verb that is perfect.
As with all writing rules, the better you understand them, the easier it is to get away with bending (or breaking) them. It isn’t bad to mercilessly cut adverbs from your work, but when editing, you must keep in mind why you are making a change.
