Hatrack River Writers Workshop: just curious

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Posted by Pancho629 (Member # 7999) on :

just curious, but why does everyone hate adverbs? are they really that bad

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

It's not a matter of hating adverbs. They have their place. But they tend to be used as a crutch or redundantly.

Take the sentence:

"Shut up!" he screamed loudly.

Do we need that adverb? Of course not, but it's something that writers do all the time. It's redundant.

Or the famous walking examples such as:

He walked unsteadily...

which is always by its nature weaker than:;

He staggered...

If an adverb is needed then it should be used. The thing is that a strong verb simply makes a greater impact than a weak verb and an adverb and a strong verb plus an adverb tends to be either redundant or over the top.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited July 19, 2008).]

Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on :

It's not that they're hated, it's that they sometimes represent lazy writing. If you say:

"I don't know what you mean," Bob nervously said.

What does nervously look like? It's better to drop the adverb and use some kind of description that defines his character in the scene. Something like:

Bob kneaded his hands, beads of sweat forming on his temple despite the chill in the air, "I don't know what you mean," he said.

That kind of thing.

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

Yes, some adverbs are unavoidable.

quote:

...they tend to be used as a crutch or redundantly.

I like this simplistic explanation. I'll take it a step further, though: either type of use above is laziness on the writer's part. (Proving, unfortunately, that most of us actually love them--contrary to popular belief.) Most of the time there is a clearer, stronger verb that has a better resonance with the scene. It's harder work, but the results force you to make yourself clear, which is always better for the reader--whether he or she is a slush reader, editor, agent, publisher or just a fan.

*I guess JeanneT and I, yet again, are of a like mind. Scary isn't it? *

quote:

"Shut up!" he screamed loudly.

...this is also known as a Tom Swifty.

quote:

What does nervously look like? It's better to drop the adverb and use some kind of description that defines his character in the scene.

Leave it to Jamie to post a point I missed--and a more poignant one--while I was rambling. Sheesh.

[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited July 19, 2008).]

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

IB, the two of us being of like mind is seriously scary.

And Jamie did make an excellent point.

Posted by AWSullivan (Member # 8059) on :

quote:
IB, the two of us being of like mind is seriously scary.

I have to admit... I'm terrified.

Anthony

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

In "'Shut up!' he screamed loudly," you don't even need the "screamed." That it was loud would be obvious from the explanation point...maybe if he whispered it, there wouldn't be one...

Getting rid of adverbs is part of the old Strunk-and-White rule: Omit needless words! What better place to start than modifiers?