100 ways to improve your writing - Gary Provost 2019

Use strong verbs
Twelve ways to give your words power

Verbs, words of action, are the primary source of energy in your sentences. They are the executives; they should be in charge. All other parts of speech are valuable assistants, but if your verbs are weak, all the modifiers in the world won’t save your story from dullness.

Generally speaking, verbs are weak when they are not specific, are not active, or are unnecessarily dependent on adverbs for their meaning.

If you choose strong verbs and choose them wisely, they will work harder for you than any other part of speech. Strong verbs will reduce the number of words in your sentences by eliminating many adverbs. And, more important, strong verbs will pack your paragraphs with the energy, the excitement, and the sense of motion that readers crave.

Sharpen a verb’s meaning by being precise. Turn look into stare, gaze, peer, peek, or gawk. Turn throw into toss, flip, or hurl.

Inspect adverbs carefully and always be suspicious. What are those little buggers up to? Are they trying to cover up for a lazy verb? Most adverbs are just adjectives with ly tacked on the end, and the majority of them should be shoveled into a truck and hauled off to the junkyard. Did your character really walk nervously, or did he pace? Did his wife eat quickly, or did she wolf down her supper?

This next passage is from my novel The Pork Chop War. Version A is loaded with the weak verbs I used in the first draft. Version B is what I published. As you read the passage, pronounce the verbs a little louder than the rest. That’s what I do with my students’ papers. The sound you will hear is the sound of the engine that is running the story.