“Get away from me,” Laura said, trying to push the dog from her without touching its soaked and smelly fur.
I don’t know about you, but I had to imagine the mood for this sentence. How do we know if Laura is shouting angrily at her disobedient dog or laughing indulgently at her adorable puppy? Unfortunately we don’t. The word “said” doesn’t show us what is happening. But simply swapping “said” for the verbs “shouted”, “laughed”, or “whispered” can provide this passage with a plethora of different meanings.
Verbs are everywhere. Even “are” is a verb. So is “is”. One of the keys to interesting writing is trading out dull, normal verbs for zippy, unusual ones. A verb is an action word. Jump, move, and shout are some basic ones; leap, jerk, and screech are some that are more specific.
Here is a sentence in need of some verbs swaps: “Keegan ran to the slide, rapidly climbed the ladder, and slid down the metal slope, landing at the bottom a pile of bruises.”
There aren’t any verbs in this sentence that really pop. So consulting a thesaurus, we can find some that will spice up this sentence. Now read this masterpiece: “Keegan scrambled to the slide, rapidly ascended the ladder, and flew down the metal slope, crashing at the bottom a pile of bruises.”
We can fix academic writing too, although it can be more difficult because the verbs aren’t as easy to identify. Here is another example: “From the little evidence there is, it seems the giant nocturnal water ape lives in the swamps of Alabama. It is rarely seen. In his report, Dr. James says that only two people have actually seen this creature, which is said to feed on local wildlife.” The verbs that should be replaced are italicized (note that not every single verb or verb relative has been highlighted).
After some sensational swaps, the passage reads: “From the little evidence that exists, it seems the giant nocturnal water ape resides in the swamps of Alabama. It is rarely witnessed. In his report, Dr. James states that only two people have actually glimpsed this creature, which is reported to hunt and devour local wildlife.”
When writing, we need to choose verbs that are specific to what we’d like to convey. We need to avoid vague ones like “use”, “try”, or “say”, instead selecting more exact words like “deplete”, “endeavor”, or “shriek”. Putting specific, vivid verbs with unique, interesting adjectives will add pizzazz to writing and help readers remember and enjoy it.
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