I remember once finding an article that tried to cover all the reasons that you shouldn’t use adverbs more than absolutely necessary. It was the only article I’ve ever seen that really went in depth and gave concrete reasons for the rule. What I also remember about that article was that adverbs themselves had nothing to do with the reasons they gave. The reasons they gave were all about not using adverbs badly. (See what I did there? ) Of course, that can be applied to any part of speech.
As an example:
“Joe ate dinner quickly before leaving.” (Short, covers off the basic human need to eat, potentially giving a nod to realism, but doesn’t focus any attention on the act of eating at all. Makes it seem as though leaving might be more important. Only problem is, it uses a big, scary adverb!)
“Joe ate a quick dinner before leaving.” (No realistic difference in length or purpose, replaces the adverb with an adjective…but to what end, really?)
“Sitting down to eat, Joe didn’t even look at his food. He picked up his fork and began shovelling it in as fast as he could, his meal finished almost before it began. Throwing the crumbs in the garbage rather than spending the time to eat them, he left the house.” (Also avoids adverbs, but is much longer. Suggests that we’re introducing details of the dinner for a reason and that leaving is of much less importance.)
Less-than-stellar examples notwithstanding, this demonstrates the craft of writing to me. I tend to think that you should choose whichever phrase accomplishes what you’re trying to accomplish; don’t worry about adverb use unless it either detracts from your story or adds to it in some way. Also, don’t ever avoid adverbs in dialogue. People don’t speak like they’re writing a book (unless, maybe, they are).
One specific reason to use an adverb is when you can use them to indirectly insert the opinion of the character who’s POV is the POV of the story. For example
John pulled up a seat next to Nathan. Nathan ate his lunch disgustingly.
Here, we’re not seeing that Nathan is inherently eating disgustingly, we are seeing that John thinks Nathan is disgusting (assuming the rest of the story is told from John’s perspective). I usually avoid adverbs unless very necessary, but I like to use them this way if it fits.
Thank you for that last part. People tease me about my adverbs in comments, but I post comments the way I speak and I use adverbs in speech. I also talk with my hands. If people have a problem with that, I humbly suggest they address it with me in person.
For me telling a story without adjectives and adverbs is like drawing in outline shapes only. You show everything that’s important to get the picture, but it lacks all the color, the emotion and soul.
That’s why I’ll always use loads of adverbs and adjectives. I don’t care if people deem it bad style, for me it’s a way to convey emotion and to describe a scenery and action in a more engaging and interesting way.
@dreamweavr also wrote why adverbs are essential most of the times. In many cases you cannot convey the message just by writing the facts without any adjectives/adverbs.
I put the hand gestures into my dialogue!! LOL
Even though splitting the quotations for them is fucking agony and such excessive work.
Kame… hame… MakeUpAnExample!;
“I want you home at the crack. of. midnight, and not a second after…” he prodded the table three times with a firm finger, “…and if you spend a cent more than 35 bucks on drink, I’ll confiscate your credit card.”
“But Daddyyyyyy!” I replied, sexually.
Story feedback: Excellent use of adverbs. Five dicks out of five.
) Of course, that can be applied to any part of speech.