Blogging about Adverbs, thoughtfully and with purpose

Great advice on adverbs.

I’ve been musing about adverbs lately, considering their place in the fictional universe, the pros and cons of their use, and what role they play in building a world and maintaining pacing.

I’ve come to the conclusion that, like exclamation marks, adverbs are best used sparingly, if at all.

First, what’s an adverb? An adverb is a word or phrase that modifies pretty much anything except nouns, that is: verbs, clauses, adjectives,otheradverbs,or adverbial phrases. For example, asveryinverynice (modifying an adjective),muchinmuchmoreimpressive (modifying an adjective),andtomorrowinShe’llwritetoyoutomorrow (modifying a verb). Adverbs are very useful in terms of setting time, place, and manner, and they’re often most recognisable in their -ly form (loosely, slowly, gently, carefully – these are all adverbs).