Writing guide · 5 min read
Adverbs are not a sin. But a high adverb count almost always points to weak verbs and scenes where the writer is explaining instead of showing.
By Alyssa Glasco, Founder · Published
Stephen King has a famous line about adverbs being the road to hell. It is a little too tidy, but he is pointing at something real. An adverb, especially one ending in “ly”, is usually a writer patching a weak verb with an extra word instead of picking a stronger verb.
The percentage of words in your prose that are probably adverbs is called adverb density. It is rough, because English verbs and adverbs blur at the edges. But as a trend indicator, it is one of the most useful numbers you can look at.
Adverbs are almost always a tell. When a sentence says “she smiled warmly”, the adverb is doing the work the verb should have done. “She beamed” is shorter, stronger, and does not make the reader pause to process two words.
High adverb density usually points to three things at once. Weak verbs. Scenes where the writer is telling the reader what to feel instead of showing the action that causes the feeling. And a kind of insurance writing, where the writer layers on precision because they do not trust the verb alone.
Dialogue is often where the number spikes. Writers patch speech tags with adverbs like “said quickly” or “replied softly”. The fix is almost never an adverb. It is a verb that carries the tone, or a beat of action that shows it.
Not every adverb is a weed. “Almost certainly”, “probably”, and “exactly” carry information a verb cannot hold. Adverbs of time and place are often necessary. Some dialogue adverbs land a character voice you would lose without them.
The rule is not to eliminate adverbs. The rule is to use them on purpose. Adverb density is the gauge that tells you whether you are doing that or just reaching for the first word that fits.
When you want to track this over time, sign up free. The trend is usually more revealing than any single reading. A writer whose adverb density drops by three points over a quarter has almost always found stronger verbs along the way.