Using Adverbs Effectively

Not every writer is a fan of adverbs. According to Stephen King, "the road to hell is paved with adverbs."

There have been many campaigns led to "kill the adverb."

But, in all that blunder and huff, did it ever occur to anyone that the adverb can also be used effectively when writing?

I'm not saying we should pepper our writing projects with adverbs, but used judicially, they can be very effective and help progress your story.

So, what does an adverb do, actually?

1. An adverb tells us more about a verb.

2. An adverb describes or modifies the verb in some way.

3. Many adverbs end with the suffix "ly" but not all.

4. Adverbs often tell us how something happened.


A good way to identify an adverb is to look for the "ly" ending, however not all adverbs end in "ly".

Here is a short list of some adverbs that do not end in "ly".

Fast 
Often 
Very 
Quite 
So 
Well

We use each of these words "often", don't we?

According to the website Emphasis ".. good, clear writing is more about communicating your meaning efficiently than banging your point home – and that means only using adverbs that add genuine, useful information. Whenever possible, show, don’t tell."

It makes sense, right? In whatever we write, we need to always make sure we are "showing" and not "telling" to get our point across. So, a smart move would be to only use adverbs in the add genuine, useful information.

From the Daily Post at Wordpress.com I found a great post about adverbs:

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and sometimes even other adverbs. They’ll often tell us “how” something was done, e.g., He walked slowly. Or, He walked very sowly. But, do adverbs clarify, or are they crutches for lazy or rushed writers who rely on adverbs to do their verbs’ heavy lifting? What if, instead of using adverbs to tell us how the man walked, we swapped in a stronger verb to show us how he walked?

Consider these alternatives:

• The man plodded.
• The man ambled.
• The man trudged.

In each instance above, our new verb not only better describes how the man moved, it creates a picture in the reader’s mind. Stronger verbs can also convey emotion more effectively, which makes for stronger, vivid writing.

If you're looking for some extra exercises on helping understand modifiers go here.

Always remember this, your purpose in writing your story is to show as much as possible to the reader. If all else fails, reach for an adverb, but try in every way to find an alternative first. For stronger writing, use stronger words.

Writing Tips - Telling a Story or Giving a Report?

The difference between "story" and "report" is crucial to the reader's expectation and the writer's execution.

The word "story" has a special meaning, and stories have specific requirements that create predictable effects.

What are the differences between "report" and "story", and how can the writer use them to strategic advantage?

A scholar by the name of Louise Rosenblatt argued at one point that readers read for two reasons:

1. Information
2. Experience

That's the difference.

Reports convey information. Stories create experience.

Reports transfer knowledge. Stories transport the reader.

The tools required to create reports and stories differ as well.

Every writer should know about the famous "Five W's and H". They've helped writers gather and convey information with the reader's interest in mind.

Who
What
Where
When
How

They are the most common elements of information.

When used in reports, these pieces of information are fixed in time, fixed so readers can scan and understand.

This is how you "un-fix" them, when you can transform information into narrative:

Who becomes Character
What becomes Action (What happened.)
Where becomes Setting
When becomes Chronology
Why becomes Cause or Motive
How becomes Process (How it happened.)

As the writer, you must figure out whether your project requires the crafting of a report, a story, or some combination of both.

In can be said that stories require rising and falling action, complications, points of insight, and resolutions. As a novelist, you can invent these movements into a story. However, as a reporter or non-fiction writer you must report them.

A narrative requires a story and a storyteller.

An article in a newspaper requires a reporter.

By combining story and report, you, the writer can speak to both our hearts and our heads, creating sympathy and understanding.

Here are some things you can do:

1. Look at the newspaper with the distinction between reports and stories in mind. Look for narrative opportunities missed. Look for bits of stories embedded in reports.
2. Take the same approach to your own work. Look for stories, or at least passages in stories, where you transport the reader to the scene. Search for places in your reports where you might have included story elements.
3. Reread the conversion list for the Five W's and H. Keep it handy the next time you research and write. Use it to transform report elements into the building blocks of a story.
4. The next time you read a novel, look for the ways in which the author weaves information about politics or history or geography into the tapestry of narrative. How can you apply these techniques in your own work?

So, in your next project, are you going to tell a story or give a report?

Writing Resource: Writing Tools - 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark