Why Not Adjectives and Adverbs?

 As to the Adjective: When in doubt, strike it out.

-- Mark Twain

 The guideline may sound simple, but there are some important lessons behind it. The rule is not saying that adjectives, and adverbs, are bad or that they should be done away with because you don't need them. They are a part of speech and serve a function. The rule is saying that adjectives and adverbs should be used, but not ab-used.

So, the important question is, what is that role and what is it not?


Adverbs and Adjectives are modifiers. They provide descriptions that enhance a verb or noun, respectively.

One thing that is often said about adverbs and adjectives is that they're indicators of lazy writers. Instead of taking the time to find more powerful nouns and verbs, or to expand their vocabulary, they use modifiers.

Let's take the example which seems to be used on many sites in discussing this topic.

He whispered daintily.

'Daintily' conveys something that whispered doesn't, because not all whispers are dainty. They can be tense, raspy, sensual...

The reason why 'daintily' is needed is because 'whisper' is not a particularly strong verb. All it does is convey one thing, the volume of the speech. It tells you nothing about the emotion, the tone, atmosphere of the situation or the person speaking.

Just like 'yell' is also a weak verb. Like 'whisper,' all it does is convey the volume of speech, unlike  'screeched' which not only conveys volume but something about the tone and a hint of the emotion because this is very different than using 'barked,' both of which have different emotional tones.

Now comes to the crux of the guideline. What is the real reason behind it and is it simply to prevent verbose descriptions that could easily be done with a single verb or noun?

Let's go back to "He whispered daintily."

Is there another verb other than 'whispered' which indicates that he spoke 'daintily' or would give the reader the same feeling? Not that I can think of, and that is when it is good to use adjectives and adverbs, and must be used, otherwise there is no other way to describe it.

But hold on...are we truly willing just to settle for 'He whispered daintily'?"

Why do I say this? Can anyone tell me how that sounds? Can you picture it in your mind, hear it in your ears? Is he saying it gently? Is the writer trying to convey that the man is effeminate?

We can't really tell. Not if all we have is, "He whispered daintily."

And that goes into the real reason for this guideline and why people say that using too many adjectives/adverbs, especially when it's not required, is the sign of a lazy writer.

The reason why we avoid using adjectives/adverbs as our primary descriptors is because they break that most basic of all the writing guidelines, Show vs. Tell.

Because it's not simply that the writer hasn't chosen the best noun or verb, but he/she is relying on the adverb/adjective to tell the reader about the scene rather than showing it. We 'tell' the reader that the character spoke angrily, haughtily, hesitantly, that she walked slowly.

Instead of 'He whispered daintily,' we can have this:

He bent close until his lips brushed her ear and he whispered, as if he were afraid the words would shatter her like glass.

Now, this example is a bit purple-prosey, but you get the idea. And note that I've actually increased the number of words, not decreased them.

All that said, adjectives and adverbs are important and in some cases, must be used when there is just no other way to express what you mean. A blue coat, is a blue coat and we can't change that, though it could be a more interesting shade of blue. A/A's are also used when something isn't important to the plot, characters or atmosphere and we want to skip past it to the more interesting stuff. They're a short-hand. Otherwise our stories would be three times longer than they should and be packed full of useless descriptions that tell us lots about the architecture, fashion, the culinary habits of the characters and readers wonder what the point of the story was...

I read a story that devoted pages of lovely paragraphs describing a mountain scene, a brook, a particular path. He spent so much time on it that I expected it to figure into the story somehow, but it never did and it left me scratching my head as to the purpose of all that description. I don't like being led down a path for nothing. I'm here for the story and the characters, do landscaping on your own time.

Another reason why writers are told to avoid using too many A/As, is because often they are repetitions, which should be avoided. A few times for specific emphasis perhaps, but if you need to stress something twice or more times, maybe your verbs and nouns aren't doing their jobs.