The Writer's Well

Traci Moore
Writer and Editor

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T H E W R I T E R ' S W E L L : Articles, Resources and Helpful Links to Improve Your Writing

To Be or Not to Be? Enhancing Your Writing with Action Verbs

We find “to be” verbs everywhere: advertising, television, books and magazines. These familiar linking verbs such as am, is, are, was, were, be, being and been, help explain information or describe narrative.

In conversation, we may skip freely through language, grammar or slang, without worrying how our verbs sound. But when reading a story or article relying heavily on “to be” verbs, we might begin to note that the verbs seem ordinary. They show no action. They don’t offer the writing a sense of immediacy. They just sit there.

Consider this example:

Bob is on his way to the store to get a carton of milk. When he gets there, he’s tired, and he just wants to get a candy bar. He isn’t going to give the clerk too much change because he is conscientious about his money.

You might the above paragraphy sounds fine. You get the message. You see the action. But here’s the same paragraph, snipping out the “to be” verbs and replacing them with others suggesting movement, assertiveness and color:

Bob limps to the store to buy a carton of milk. Arriving at the door, he feels dog-tired and hungry. Any candy bar will do. He grabs a Snickers, holds it up so the clerk can see, then digs for exact change in his shirt pocket.

This sample won't win an award, but it’s an improvement over the first paragraph.

Feel free to use this technique to revise your writing. Use a thesaurus to help you find strong verbs. Get comfortable rearranging the order of your words so that subjects generate the action.

Take some time to read a published short story, novel passage or article. Notice what verbs these writers use, and how often they use “to be” verbs. Which variety do you like best? Which writing feels stronger and more interesting to you?

The act of weilding our pens, pushing our delete keys and using our imaginations to preserve great verbs can feel invigorating and make our writing more marketable.

But beware. You may just catch the fever for planting action verbs everywhere.

A version of this article was published on E-Zine Articles.

From It’s to Yours to Lie; Unscrambling Three Pesky Grammar Rules

We learned grammar in school, but it’s easy to forget the little things. Here's a quick refresher on how to avoid several grammar mix-ups.

It's and Its

It’s (apostrophe) means it is. This handy contraction makes narrative and dialogue sound more modern:

It’s a nice day.
It’s easy to remember this rule.

When writing about what belongs to someone or something, omit the apostrophe:

The dog wagged its tail.
The baby stuck out its tongue.

To check that you’ve used the right term, ask two questions: 1) Can (it’s or its) be replaced by the words it is? 2) Does (it’s or its) belong to someone or something? Adjust your sentences if necessary.

You're and Your

You’re is used when you want to say you are, but prefer a contraction:

You’re (you are) going this early?
You’re (you are) hilarious.

Use your (no apostrophe) when mentioning someone’s posessions:

Your bike looks spiffy.
Your story amazed me.

Sit, Lie and Rise and Set, Lay and Raise

Sit, lie and rise are actions humans do:

Bob sits in his chair.
Please raise your hand.

Set, lay and raise are verbs pertaining to the movement of objects:

Dad set the salad on the table.
The sun rose at 5:30am today.

With a little practice, these rules will become commonplace.