"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops." ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I read Stephen King's On Writing years ago (it's great, you should get it if you haven't already read it!)
Dialog like:
"Absolutely not!" he said angrily.
"I'm afraid it's true," she said sadly.
is like nails on a chalkboard for me. I've immediately stopped reading books upon seeing too many of these. I've not bought books because they were in the preview. Which, granted is MY hangup, I'm psycho that way. 😂 In my writing, I avoid anything that ends with an ly like the plague. <--- you should avoid tired common similies, metaphors and idioms too!
But recently, (<--Gah! I do get the plague a handful of times per book...) I saw a similar quote attributed to King:
If you need to use an adverb, you've got the wrong verb
I realized it isn't enough to avoid adverbs—you can turn the practice into a writing exercise to help your prose grow! Replace tired, lazy adverbs with fantastic, unique descriptions.
Some simple examples:
He angrily stomped across the room. can become He stomped across the room like an angry rhino.
and
She looked at him boldly can become She glared at him, chin high, fists curled, like a defiant suffragette.
These broader descriptions of the moment 'show-don't-tell' and offer your readers richer experiences. Whenever I feel the urge to use an adverb, I take it as a fun challenge to see how creative I can be in avoiding it!
