by Mike Klaassen

Created on: February 23, 2010

“For some reason, placing adverbs after the word 'said' has both passionate advocates and detractors,” according to Nancy Kress, in Writer’s Digest (November 2005). 

Opinions regarding the use of adverbs after dialogue tags may be divided into three categories:

* Prohibition

* Exceptions

* Alternatives

PROHIBITION

Linda Lee Maifair, in Talk About (Institute of Children's Literature, 1991), refers to the overuse of adverbs after attributions as "adverbitis."  Elmore Leonard, in his Ten Rules of Writing, recommends outright prohibition: "Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said.'"

Others agree.  ". . . Never use adverbs, at least never use them within dialogue tags," says Tom Chiarella, in Writing Dialogue.  It seems pretty harsh to say that, but there are good reasons.  Adverbs tempt the reader to think about the way something is said rather than about what is actually said.  Remember that a verb describes an action already.  An adverb merely qualifies an action.  Using, more particularly, overusing, adverbs shifts the reader's focus from the words themselves to the speaker's accent, lilt and pace in speaking them."  Furthermore, notes Chiarella, " . . . adverbs can make dialogue sound contrived."

Evan Marshall, in The Marshall Plan for Getting Your Novel Published, advises that "Whenever possible, make the dialogue itself convey how it is spoken.  Overuse of adverbs is another hallmark of the amateur novelist.  Try to make your dialogue convey its own description."

“If the dialogue communicates what it is supposed to, the adverb in a speech tag isn’t necessary," notes David Morrell, in Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing, "and if the dialogue fails to communicate what it is supposed to, the adverb merely points out that the dialogue hasn’t been successful.”

According to Renni Browne and Dave King, in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, "Even when you use them with 'said' (we said sternly), they tend to entangle your readers in your technique rather than leaving them free to concentrate on your dialogue."

"Resist the Urge to Explain (R.U.E.)," remind Browne and King, " . . . if your dialogue isn't well written - if it needs the explanation to convey the emotion - then the explanation really won't help.  It is more by what you say and do - conveyed through word choice, body language, context - than by how you say it."

Evan Marshall, in The Marshall Plan

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