Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Hey, you’re a writer, and here’s a rule of writing: NEVER use adverbs! Adverbs are awful, a sign of weak writing. Go back and pick a stronger verb, a stronger noun. Get that word count down, or so hep me God–
I have heard this rule/”pro tip” countless times, and it always makes me want to bite power lines. It’s something people endlessly parrot, as it makes them sound smart, but they don’t understand what it actually means.
Adverbs are fine, actually. They are necessary for writing, good writing especially. But saying “never use adverbs!” is inherently oxymoronic, just like…
“I don’t believe in pronouns!”
I’m sure you’ve seen this argument before. And then you smugly say “Oh, then what’s the word ‘I’? Checkmate, atheists.”
When people say “pronouns,” one is usually referring to third person pronouns. The he’s, the she’s, the xyr’s. I am telling you about a third person, the they/them over there. But the definition of a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a person, place or thing (i.e. a noun), which makes language quicker/smoother. Otherwise, Chase will have to write like Tarzan, where Chase has to refer to Chase as Chase, which isn’t fun for the reader to read, is it?
There’s other pronouns besides I and you and he/she, of course. We. They (the plural, such as all the guys in Weezer). Y’ouse/y’alls/yinz. This/some/none/which. Which cake am I buying? This one.
It is technically possible to speak or write without using any pronouns. But it would be very…clunky. And awkward. Adverbs, though, are even more essential.
So what’s an adverb then?
Per our besties at Wikipedia:
An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by answering questions such as how, in what way, when, where, to what extent.
Wow, that’s a lot of things an adverb can do!
Here’s a sentence:
It rained yesterday, so freshly-grown mushrooms dotted the lawn.
“Yesterday” is an adverb. But adverb bad! Never use adverbs! Okay, so let’s do:
It rained, so freshly-grown mushrooms dotted the lawn.
For the reader, this is now vague. Is it presently raining, because this story is in the standard past tense? Or did it rain in the past, which leads to our present situation?
Wait a minute, “freshly” is an adverb, too! -ly words are adverbs, and we can’t use adverbs! Especially the evil -ly ones.
It rained, so grown mushrooms dotted the lawn.
Now, that doesn’t make sense at all.
Oh, what’s that, you say? “Never” is an adverb? So the sentence “Never use adverbs” is inherently oxymoronic? Well, let’s rewrite it without an adverb:
Do not use adverbs, not even once.
Wait, “even” is an adverb.
Do not use adverbs, not once
Shoot, once is an adverb, too.
Do not use adverbs
Oh, what was that? “Not” is an adverb, too?
Do use adverbs.
Well, okay then!
Adverbs are everywhere, and that’s fine
Here is a (very incomplete) list of adverbs
- Gladly, sadly, angrily, sneakily
- Always, never, frequently, occasionally, often, rarely
- Here, there, in, out, down, up, above, upstairs, downstairs
- Fairly, rather, really, quite, a little, a bit
- Today, tomorrow, yesterday, daily, weekly, yearly
“Adverb” is kind of a catch-all term, so a lot of words are shoved into the adverb bin. You are using adverbs, constantly. It is probably technically possible to write without using any adverbs, but you are severely limiting your language and it’s going to be awkward and wordy and weird (and not in a good way).
When people smugly advise you to not use pronouns in your writing, what they really mean are the -ly adverbs (I’ve even seen this advice further explained as “search ‘ly’ in your document to find all your adverbs”). These tend to “stick out” more than words like not and in, and you know what they say about squeaky wheels.
Don’t construe this post as free reign to use every adverb all the time
What people say “Don’t use the -ly adverbs,” what they mean is “hey there is probably a better verb you coulda picked.” Or maybe adjective, or just general “there’s probably a better way to word this.”
Something that can help you practice this is flash fiction writing. It feels like brain surgery, where every word is under the microscope and needs to be adjusted to be the very best word possible.
Here’s an example from an unsold piece of mine that’s 1,000 words exactly.
The phoenix king never took visitors; he barely met with his High Council. And yet heโd see a measly human? The one helping the rebellion to finally, finally end his 7,713-year reign.
I even highlighted the adverbs for you! There’s a couple -ly adverbs, but their usage is very intentional. “Never” and “yet” are essential for the sentences to function, and “finally” is repeated (and stressed with italics) to show just how sick and tired people are with this king. Including the exact number of years really hits home just how dire this situation is.
“Measly” is an adjective, btw. So any sort of “search for -ly words and replace them” advice would axe this quantifier which is essential for the tone/theme of the piece (extremely powerful king vs. seemingly worthless human).
(Here is my pro gamer tip for flash fiction: formatting is free! Italics, bold, line breaks (“enjambments,” if you want to be fancy), ellipses, scare quotes, etc. Like all things, use them with moderation. If your piece is not a “traditional” story, like it’s emulating an article, letter, grocery list etc., formatting is especially powerful!)
Here’s another sample from one of my flash fics, this one is published!
The crinkled material had a specific texture, the same as plastic tarps, but those were always blue, in garages, as IKEA bags, as shrouds for the dead bodies before they were hucked into the bay.
Can you tell I really like Harlan Ellison? Adverbs are really important for stuff like this. Especially similes/metaphors, and those are really important for writing!
Legally mandated conclusion
The writer’s toolbox is full of all sorts of words, including adverbs. And, like any tool (or fastener), there are times when using them are essential and times when, well, yes it technically works, but it doesn’t really look good or work as well as it could. This is why it’s important to know what tools you have, how they work, but also not be afraid to experiment!
