Today's topic: Spicing up your writing by eliminating boring adverbs
First, let me apologize for my two week "tip of the week"
hiatus. As many of you know, I have been holed up working on a huge
project the past few weeks, and I haven't had time to do much else. My
apologies if you missed me.
Okay, quick refresher: What's an adverb? The simple explanation is that
an adverb is a word that describes another word (often a verb, but
sometimes an adjective or even another adverb). They tend to end in
"ly," but not always (for example, "very" is an adverb).
Here are a few examples (there are MANY more):
Very
Extremely
Completely
Really
Loudly
Truly
Definitely
Softly
Slowly
Quickly
Totally
Possibly
Happily
Examples of adverbs modifying verbs:
He walked slowly to the door.
"Give me my car keys," she said furiously.
Examples of adverbs modifying adjectives:
Really interesting
Extremely important
Examples of adverbs modifying other adverbs:
I read quite slowly.
She spoke very convincingly.
There is nothing grammatically wrong with using adverbs, but there are a
couple of style issues they present. First, writers often choose an
adverb + adjective or adverb + verb combo in place of a stronger, more
descriptive adjective/verb (resulting in dull,
wordy writing). In addition, adverbs often serve as filler words that
don't add much (if any) meaning to the sentence.
Here are some examples where we can replace the adverb + adjective combo with a stronger, more descriptive adjective:
Instead of "very interesting," say "fascinating."
Instead of "extremely important," say "crucial" or "vital" or "essential."
Instead of "completely finished," just say "finished."
Instead of "really funny," say "hilarious."
Instead of "very useful," say "indispensable" or "invaluable."
Here are some examples where the meaning won't change if we cut out the adverb (making it unnecessary):
Instead of "very unique," say "unique" (the word "unique" means "one of a kind," so something can't be "very" unique).
Instead of "She might possibly be there," say "She might be there." ("Might" already means "possibly.")
Instead of "He smiled happily," say "He smiled."
To be clear, I'm not saying you should cut all adverbs from your
writing. I'm just saying they are often either unnecessary or boring,
wordier alternatives to a crisper, more interesting word. I do think
you should abolish the words "very," "really," "truly,"
"definitely," and "extremely"--these are pretty useless. The next time
you proofread one of your papers, keep an eye out for adverbs. When you
find one, ask yourself whether you could cut it without damaging the
sentence, OR if you could find a more interesting
word to use in its place. It's a simple way to prune your writing and
make it more vivid.
I hope you've found today's tip helpful.
