New writers love adverbs. When I started out, I was obsessed with them, for the simple reason that it's easy. One adverb and bang - you brought the meaning across.

Example: He gazed at me suspiciously/restlessly/sweetly/angrily/[insert any other emotion you like].

It's lazy writing and a classic example of tell. An adverb really doesn't show the reader anything and the definition for every reader is somewhat different. It's also jarring because it stops the reader from connecting with the plot and often destroys imagery.

Let's look at a more detailed example:

He smiled at me sweetly. It made my heart jump happily.

So what could give this scene more meat?

As he gazed at me with his head cocked to the side, his smile was twisted in this lopsided way that made my heart jump.

Now close your eyes and envision those sentences. In the first example, can you picture the smile? How about the second one? What would you, as reader, prefer to read in a book?

Of course, there are times where adverbs are appropriate, but just as it is with everything else, balance is the key. Adverbs are something I use sparingly and avoid whenever I can. As an example, I use it to describe some insignificant side character/pet/description I want to add without distracting too much from the main flow of the plot.

Example:

Taking in a deep breath, I scan over the playground. Where the hell is he? My fingers keep drumming against the edge of the bench as I check my watch every other second. The small toddler, squealing excitedly when her mother pulls out a box of cookies, is incredibly jarring, her running footsteps like little earthquakes in my hangover stricken mind. I had forgotten how much I hated kids. After this experience, I doubted this mindset would ever change.

Here I used two adverbs in one sentence - once to describe the toddlers squeal and to measure the jarring feeling. In this instance, both further the plot because I want to convey this quickly without much showing because the focus is really on her impatient state of mind. Going in detail into the squeals would distract from the overall scene.

So as you continue to write along, watch those adverbs - and avoid them whenever you can. There will be a special mentioning of this little culprit in the next section on dialogue, so keep an eye out since that's an area where any experienced editor can spot a newbie in an instant 😊