Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I find this somewhat baffling. Why on Earth would one not want to qualify verbs? Does Mr King have a similar aversion to adjectives?
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Like a lot of writing advice/rules, the origin lies on over-use/abuse. But, also, King's advice regarding adverbs is part of a wider discussion that included passive versus active verbs, and how this relates to whether the writing feels confident. New writers tend to be unsure of themselves and this may lead not only to passive phrasing, but also to over-explaining; saying things multiple times to be sure the reader gets it (get it?
).
An earlier example on this thread was "ran quickly" - since "ran" already indicates speed, does "quickly" add anything to the phrase?
It is not that such constructs should never be used, but that they should be used deliberately, and not just because you aren't sure if the reader has understood. It is not uncommon to find something like:
"
Shut up!" he shouted loudly.
Here we have italics, exclamation mark, and an adverb to the speech attribution, and they are all saying the same thing: give this emphasis. The italics can go, but I'd probably keep the exclamation point - especially if I can drop the speech attribution all together (obviously that depends on the greater context). The point being that the "he shouted" maybe redundant too, given the words and exclamation.
And you're right, adverbs are not the only thing that can be overused, but...
* abuse has been common
* King (and some other famous people) have highlighted the abuse
so naturally every writer's advice column out there likes to harp on adverbs.