Make Your Verbs Sparkle

When we write a first draft, we're so busy getting the 'important stuff' down that we don't pay close attention to the kinds of verbs we use. When we go back to proofread and edit, we skip right over the blah verbs because we're still looking at the 'important stuff.'

Those blah verbs I am referring to are the passive ones that are driven from the 'to be' verb. Words like is, are, were, was, went connect the first part of a sentence to the last, but they have no sparkle, no pizzazz, no life.

When you do your first proofreading, mark all the passive verbs, either highlight with color if you're working on your computer, or circle if you are using a pencil to mark that first draft. Many programs like Word have ways to automatically find those words for you. Each one is a little different, so if you're not familiar with the one you have, use a search engine for help.

Verbs that show action will bring life to your writing. They also help you to 'show' rather than 'tell' which livens your prose, as well. Look at a few examples below where A. has the passive verb and B. has an active one:

A.  Marilee went to the store for her mother every day after school.
B.  Marilee strolled to the store for her mother every day after school--the verb here shows you how she went to the store.

A.  The boys are in the corn crib.
B.  The boys hid in the corn crib.  --hid lets us know what they are doing in the corn crib.

A.  Susan's stomach was empty so she took a handful of chips.
B.  Susan's stomach growled and rumbled so she scooped up a handful of chips.--much livelier than 'was' and 'took'

Sometimes you might have to rearrange the order of a sentence to work in an active verb. Too much effort? Do it because your sentence will read better and be more interesting. Don't forget that individual sentences grouped together into paragraphs make your story. It's your job to make them sparkle.

For a lengthy list of action verbs, check this helpful list.