In Defense of Adverbs

by Rachel Butler

This article first appeared in the November 2005 issue of Inklings, newsletter of Romance Writers Ink.

At our recent Cimarron Dreamin' conference, Harlequin editor Victoria Curran mentioned her surprise the first time she heard about the "rule" against -ly words. Throughout my career, I've heard that tidbit offered as if it was carved in stone. As a contest coordinator, I see entries come back from the judges with all the adverbs marked out or circled, accompanied by a pronouncement from on high that such words are verboten in good writing.

I have only one thing to say to that. Unfortunately, such language isn't allowed here.

What is good writing but the skillful use of language-all language? Certainly, the overuse of adverbs is sloppy, but the overuse of any part of speech is sloppy. We've all read books or manuscripts where the author doesn't seem to understand that "he" and "she" are perfectly good substitutes for the characters' names, but is anyone making a rule that proper nouns are verboten? If you start twenty sentences in a row with "She . . .", it's boring and bad, but it doesn't mean all sentences starting with "She . . ." should be prohibited.

Compare writing to another creative endeavor-painting. An artist has all the colors of the rainbow at her disposal, with endless shades of each color. You'll never hear one artist telling another, "You can only use the primary colors," or "Using pastel shades is verboten in good art." All those shades and tints and hues exist for a reason . . . just as all the parts of speech exist for a reason. If you restrict yourself-or others-from using one of those parts because of some silly "rule," you limit yourself from the full richness of our language.

Let's toss out the "no -ly words" rule and substitute another: moderation in everything. Our writing will be better for it.

Rachel is the author of The Assassin and Deep Cover, which reviewers have compared favorably to J. D. Robb and Janet Evanovich! Check out her websites: www.rachelbutler.com and www.selenamccaffrey.com.

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