As I’m editing book two of my trilogy right now for adverbs, trying to cut or rewrite a good number of those, I’m reflecting on the trouble with adverbs.

They are absolutely fine in first drafts, and there is nothing wrong with them per se. So why does Stephen King say “the road to hell is paved with adverbs”?

It’s because they’re easy, lazy choices, and are thus addictive.

It is a simple matter to overuse them without realizing you are overusing them.

When possible, it’s not a bad idea to get rid of adverbs–they are sometimes not needed, and often you can get the same meaning across by using a stronger verb.

One great change I made to my manuscript this week that I’m happy with is changing the sentence “He could hardly look at her” to “Looking at her pained him.”

Do you see how much stronger that is? How much more information it gives, and how much more precise?

That’s the trouble with adverbs. They’re not wrong. They not horrible. They are ok to use from time to time, for sure. It’s just that, often, other choices will work out better than falling back upon an adverb.