I think this is good stylistic advice, but unfortunately muddled by the use of the word "adverb" to label it. The author is polemicizing against heavy-handed de

I think this is good stylistic advice, but unfortunately muddled by the use of the word "adverb" to label it. The author is polemicizing against heavy-handed declarations to the reader of a character's emotional state, reactions, etc. That is not the same issue as using adverbs: many adverbs aren't involved in that kind of construction, and many of those kinds of constructions don't even use adverbs. The kinds of adverbs the author doesn't like are "he spoke worriedly" style, where you simply declare to the reader that the manner in which this action took place was worried. But you can do the same without an adverb, and many bad fiction writers do: "he spoke, his voice full of worry". No adverb, same problem. And the piece itself gives some examples of why adverbs in other contexts are perfectly fine: > try to explain better > Let's say a writer fully describes the action These are fine because they are not trying to declare a character's state/reactions. That's the issue; adverbs are a red herring.