Adverbs are words used to modify verbs or adjectives. For example:
He is highly paid.
(A trick to identifying adverbs is that they can’t stand alone. You can say “She is friendly,” but you can’t say “She is extremely.”)
Be careful with adverbs in dialogue!
Adverbs can add great color to your writing when they are sprinkled in here and there. But if used too often or in place of crisper descriptions, especially in dialogue, they can have the opposite effect and make your writing appear bland and lazy.
For example, which of the following sentences paints a better picture in your mind of what is happening?
Scenario A (adverbs are in bold):
Scenario B: (no adverbs)
Or these:
Scenario A (again, adverbs are in bold):
Scenario B: (no adverbs)
Do you see my point? Using too many adverbs, especially in dialogue, violates the “show vs. tell” rule of writing, which I’ll address in next week’s post.
-Maria
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