When it comes to strong writing, I don’t like to say the “small” picture. The “big” picture is the body itself. But bodies are made up of cells that each contribute something to the whole. The body overall may tolerate some cells’ weaknesses, but if enough go south, the body is in trouble. How can you maintain strong writing on a cellular level?
Writing Tip for Today: The foundation of strong writing is active verbs. The trouble with “to be” verbs and words ending with “ing” is that they feel static or distant, general and ordinary. This sounds elementary, but check over your work for sentences with some form of the verb “to be.” Is, are, was, and were can be useful tools, but overreliance on them (especially when paired with a gerund, or “ing” word, such as, “She was watching.”) leads to flabby prose. If you see too many “to be” verbs, gerunds or other general words (It, There, very, little, etc), you can often strengthen your writing by switching out “was”words for specific active verbs, and trading “was ing” words for the simple past tense. EX: She was watching. She watched. Try this and see how much livelier, direct and concise the new version is. Your prose may feel as if it has a new lease on life.
Today at 7EST (that’s 4PM PDT) I’ll be the featured guest at The Writer’s Chatroom. If you have a writing-related question or just want to say hi, please drop in. You don’t have to sign up or get a password, just pick an online name and come on in.