If you’ve hung out around writer’s critique circles, or taken a creative writing class, you might have heard about the evils of adverbs. In On Writing, Stephen King also condemns the use of adverbs, even though he himself has been known to use them. In fact, many high profile authors use them. You might wonder why these authors can get away with that when others cannot. Here we will discuss the positive use of adverbs in fiction.
Redundant Adverbs
High profile writers who use adverbs occasionally are able to do so only partly because they have a big name. They have honed their craft enough to know when it’s okay to break certain rules. A very prominent writing rule is how the adverb is used.
While it may seem unimportant, the reason why adverbs are discouraged is partly thanks to the redundancy they cause. For example, you might write a sentence fragment that includes the words ‘he slammed the door angrily’. This is redundant because the reader already understands that this person has created an angry action simply by having slammed the door. In this case, ‘he slammed the door’ suffices and will lead to writing tighter prose.
A second reason why adverbs are often discouraged is because they often contain three or more syllables and the word becomes easy for a reader to stumble upon, particularly if the word wasn’t necessary to begin with. In these cases, the rule that many writing instructors, blogs and critique groups preach is true.
How to Break the Adverb Rule
Now let’s talk about ways in which adverbs are appropriate, or, ‘okay to use’. A sentence fragment can include ‘vibrated seductively’ because the reader wouldn’t necessarily know that the vibration is seductive. ‘Seductively’ has four syllables, but it isn’t so bad if it is the precise word. Another example is ‘laughed hoarsely’. Just two syllables. A reader would not deduce the way a character has laughed if not for using the adverb in this case.
If you check the work of some great writers, you will find that the use of adverbs, while present, is very sparing, and is allowed to flow into the sentence properly. Make sure your adverb flows properly by considering how it fits into the sentence by meter. Count the number of syllables. If it doesn’t fit properly, consider using another word because the one originally chosen might not be the precise one.
Breaking writing rules
Before trying to break this writing ‘rule’, try and cleanse yourself of using it completely. If you don’t use the adverb at all for some time, you can return to your writing space and have a greater understanding of how this rule works and, more importantly, when it’s okay to break it.
Derek Clendening - I'm a freelance writer and have combined writing with my love of football. I'm very opinionated about football, which you can learn more ...
