Bobby Casto's Blog

There is a lot of discussion about whether or not adverbs are of the devil…Adverbs are words that usually (

Stephen King is not a fan (he said that the road to hell is paved with them), and many well-known authors have voiced their opposition to them as well.

Other authors disagree, claiming that adverbs can be an effective way to add color and emotion to the writing.

Like most controversial issues, the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

When to use adverbs?

There are times for adverbs.

One of my favorite came from a Twitter friend (post in the comments if it’s you!) who said to use them if they contradict the verb (e.g. smiled maliciously, cried joyfully). Seems like sound advice and I use it as a measuring stick for my adverb use.

When to not use adverbs?

What about times when they should be avoided? There are plenty such instances. Consider only one: when they rob the reader of engaging with the plot and characters.

On my last book, many of the beta readers wanted fewer adverbs because they all saw Aijayy (the main character) a little differently and the adverbs were forcing them to see her in a way they hadn’t pictured.

Example of Adverbs Stealing from the Reader

Consider this example:

“What in the filch were you doing? We could have died out there?” David shouted angrily, chopping his hand authoritatively in the air toward her.

“What did you expect me to do?” Sarah, yelled furiously back marching up to David until they were toe-to-toe. “I had a whole fleet of soldiers gunned down in front of me – their blood splattered on my clothes,” she said, lifting up the bottom of her shirt angrily in illustration. “If you think you could do any better, be my guest,” she complained hysterically.

This is exaggerated in order to make a point – the dialogue tags are loaded with emotions, some quite over the top, and much of that is brought about by the adverbs. What if the reader agrees completely (adverb!) with the choices? They may feel a strong connection to the characters.

And if they don’t? It could alienate the reader. Being able to related to the characters is huge for most readers and stacking the prose with adverbs only helps if those are the adverbs the reader would have chosen.

However, by removing them, the author lets the reader fill in the blanks. And most readers (basic psychology here) will fill them in the way they would act in that situation = they see themselves in the characters more = they relate more to the characters = you are a better author by doing less work! WIN, WIN, WIN!

Example without adverbs

Take a look at the same bit of dialogue with adverbs slashed:

“What in the filch were you doing? We could have died out there?” David shouted, chopping his hand toward her.

“What did you expect me to do?” Sarah yelled back, marching up to David until they were toe-to-toe. “I had a whole fleet of soldiers gunned down in front of me – their blood splattered on my clothes,” she said, lifting up the bottom of her shirt in illustration. “If you think you could do any better, be my guest,” she complained.

Now, readers who don’t want to picture Sarah as hysterical and angry don’t have to! Readers that still want to picture her that way (for whatever reason *eyes darting*) can!

Related Side Note

It is in this same spirit that many popular authors advise using only “said” in dialogue tags. That may be a little much. But, said is rather invisible and gets the author out of the reader’s way.

In the exchange above, “complained” is a good example (of a bad example…uh…yeah…). By taking it out, the reader doesn’t have to see Sarah as a complainer.

“What in the filch were you doing? We could have died out there?” David shouted, chopping his hand toward her.

“What did you expect me to do?” Sarah yelled back, marching up to David until they were toe-to-toe. “I had a whole fleet of soldiers gunned down in front of me – their blood splattered on my clothes,” she said, lifting up the bottom of her shirt in illustration. “If you think you could do any better, be my guest.”

Wrap-up

This post is not intended to cover the whole debate on when to use adverbs, rather to argue for one reason against them – the way they steal opportunities from the reader to imagine the characters how they want.

My readers have noticed a monumental difference when I slash adverbs – leaving them only if the dialogue or action doesn’t make sense without them (one instance is as mentioned above – if the character is smiling deviously, shouting joyfully, etc.)

What are your feelings about adverbs as either an author or a reader?

Share in the comments below!