How does overuse of adverbs affect written works?

Overuse of adverbs makes a work sound more like a school essay with a word count requirement. Economy of words is the way to go with literature.

Stop being do d** wordy! You people are brain killers.

I find my eyes rolling with too many adverbs as well as too many similes.

Are you still here, @Everest? Go do your homework.

Adverbs serve a useful function, namely to clarify the intended meaning of a verb in a sentence.

Use them when they are needed but do not overdo it.

Send me a sample of your writing and I will be glad to give you more specific advice and feedback.

Obviously there is nothing uncouth or innately bad about adverbs.

But I would not consider this terrible advice (although it is dispensed ad nauseam to new writers), because the overuse of adverbs kind of empurples your prose in a way that suggests you’re trying too hard. It can look amateurish; it can be gaudy; it can ruin a reader’s experience by totally demystifying the narrative. I think a lot of the enjoyment derived from reading comes in the form of constructing a narrative and filling in what the author doesn’t tell us. If you decorate every simple action or statement with adverbs, then there is no room for the reader’s imagination. There is no ambiguity, and ambiguity is a necessary aspect of literature.

He looked at her longingly.
“I love you,” he said passionately.
She quickly glanced away. “I can’t be with you,” she said guiltily.

And so on. Ignoring the fact that this is incredibly cheesy, everything here feels exaggerated. Life doesn’t really work like that; actions don’t have clearly designated connotations in reality. Most of the time people just do things. They don’t do things quickly or humorously or vigorously or sincerely or beautifully. They just do.

So when people say using adverbs is “lazy,” they may be right. Adverbs can provide a quick and effortless way of characterizing someone, and inexperienced writers who use them too frequently often fail to characterize or describe in more meaningful ways.

I would, however, warn you against people who say that economy of language necessarily means bare or laconic sentences. Not everyone wants (or needs) to write like Hemingway.

Particularly in fiction where your characters are speaking, it often sounds stitled. If a sentence can we rewritten in editing to eliminate the ly word without making loosing meaning, so much the better. The direct approach sounds stronger.

But here is an example of fiction using an adverb in just such a setting. “Suddenly the Librarian felt very alone.”—Terry Pratchett – Lords and Ladies. Prachet is certainly as good a writer as there is. If you can make adverbs work for you as well as he does, have at it.

Here’s a great website that covers the subject well. http://www.users.qwest.net/~yarnspnr/writing/adverbs/adverbs.htm

In general, your writing will be more interesting if you avoid words that end in ly.

It is easy to let adverbs replace creative and explanatory detail.

Use and overuse are not the same thing. By definition, overuse of something is excessive or disproportionate and is bound to be detrimental to the overall effect.

For me, it comes back to show don’t tell.

If you’re using adverbs then you’re not showing the reader the reaction- you’re telling them.

Example:
She nervously placed the file back in the drawer.
vs
Her hands shook as she placed the file back in the drawer.

The first one tells you what the action might have looked like. The second one shows you what the action looked like and thus, the reader now knows the woman was nervous.

You need to trust your readers. If you show them something, and show it correctly, 99% of time the reader will get the right idea.

what a great question I was only thinking about this yesterday…

GQ @ArtiqueFox

This seems to have been popularized with Elements of Style and the advice from chapter 5: “Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs.” This is silly advice.

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004271.html

Kind of like wearing all of your jewelry at the same time. A few well considered and well placed adverbs make a story compelling. That’s why it’s so important to have a large fund to choose from. (Preposition at the end, I know) when you only get to use one, it should be perfect.
Follow the links above and keep reading. You’ll add to your personal data base, and have a better idea which adverbs will work well in a sentence when you have to write.

Too many adverbs and too many adjectives make a paper sound like it was written by an eighth grader who has just learned what they are and has been told to incorporate them into their writing and is now putting 10 of each in a sentence. Its just too much. My bf teaches 7th and 8th grade english and every paper I read of his students’ sounds like that. It just…doesn’t sound right.

@Trillian love the analogy!

@deni The question does ask about using too many adverbs, but you will find lots of critics and experts on writing who say do not use adverbs at all in Fiction. Of course, those critics and writers are not the people producing top-selling fiction, and the people producing top-selling fiction often ignore such extreme advice—so perhaps the such experts gained that status unjustly. :-)

Good point, @ETpro. There must be an immense number of people these days with a craving to write, and not only to write but to find an audience by whatever means it takes, to judge from the number of people who are actively engaged in making money off that desire. The sheer mass of books on the subject of writing, not to mention writers’ magazines, websites, MFA programs, conferences, speakers, and writing coaches for hire, suggests that there is a huge market in people who want to be told how to write. And if they all said the same thing, what would any of them sell? They have a vested interest in giving different advice. As a result you can find so-called experts who will tell you absolutely contrary things about how to write.

Isn’t it curious that there does not seem to be a corresponding upsurge in the desire to read? Who is going to pay attention to all these precious self-revelations? Or is this all really just a substitute for therapy, and cheap at twice the price?

In my opinion you can gain much, if not most, of what you need as a writer simply by (a) reading good writing and paying attention, (b) remembering what you were taught about grammar and composition in your English classes, and (c ) picking one or two respected guides and following them. There is no substitute for a little talent and a competent critical reader. And of course everybody needs an editor.

Poorly, ineffectively, clumsily and destructively

@janbb mockingly, awfully, stupidly :P