Thursday, June 30, 2011

Show, don't tell - How to be a better writer

" Try this little test to see if you write with weak verbs. Find one
page of your writing, then go through it, highlighting am, is, was,
were, be, seem, feel, become. Those are state of being verbs and are
considered weak verbs. If you have more than three per page, it???s time
to scratch most of them out and beef up your verbs. Example: He was
tired. Change to: His eyelids drooped. Or: She is old. Change to: The
arthritis made it hard to grip the pencil. See how your writing
becomes stronger and more visual when you change out weak verbs?
Usually when you write with be-verbs like this, you are telling.
Eliminating them helps you to SHOW instead."

from writer Mary DeMuth on
http://www.incourage.me/2011/06/a-writers-workshop-at-9pm-est-tonight-just-fo...

I am so going to try this in a few blog posts to see how it improves my writing.

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