« There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. « W. Somerset Maugham
Ah, the adverb! Why among all the parts of speech is it so criticized? Why have writers from Nathaniel Hawthorne to Stephen King urged us to take an ax to the adverbs sprinkled across our pages? I don’t have the answer to this mystery.
Fortunately, I’ve found an zealous advocate for the adverb, a teacher and writer who takes a generous approach to adverbs, which I’m happy to share with you:
An adverb is far more than just a word ending in -ly: Along with nouns, verbs, and adjectives, it is one of the four content parts of speech used to construct sentences.
Each part performs a key function: Nouns name things, verbs specify action, and adverbs and adjectives add to, limit, or clarify nouns and verbs.
Adverbs are a valuable tool in every writer’s kit-bag and excising them from your writing will impoverish it. Adverbs play several important roles in a sentence — they make more specific and add information to verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Adverbs are versatile: The role an adverb plays in a sentence can show up in our writing as one word: sadly. Or as a phrase: “I’ll call you in the morning.” Or as a dependent clause: “We’ll eat whenever he gets here.”
Bravo! Let’s dump the “dump adverbs” idea and focus instead on using them with precision and gusto as we all write on!
