| Good Writing: Treasure your verbs, for they are golden
Published: January 25, 1999
Last Updated: January 25, 1999
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Good writing
Treasure your verbs, for they are golden
Although a good verb can’t save poor prose, it certainly
can make mediocre prose better; ponder and choose your verbs carefully
because they do the most work in a sentence
By Kevin McGrath
Awell-turned verb can make a mumbling sentence sing. You wouldn’t think
a single word could carry such impact. After all, a strong, specific noun
works wonders; a well-placed modifier adds a touch of flavor; descriptive
clauses weave a fabric of colorful images.
But none can do the verb’s heavy lifting, because verbs — good ones
— embody action.
That makes them the workhorses of sentences. They join with the subject
to build meaning, creating pictures in the readers’ minds that generate
both interest and understanding.
And because sentences rise or fall largely on verbs’ strength, or lack
of it, discerning writers learn to prize and cultivate them.
Doing it right
You can see the dynamic at work in the following examples. Notice how
the writers employ verbs to paint mental word pictures.
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From a story on a perch fishing boat: “Suddenly, still feeding out at five
feet a second, the net had bunched into a single, rope-thick tangle of
nylon mesh, jumping off the wheel that is supposed to guide it. Now it
threatens to foul itself in the gears. Donna Hursell yanks and tugs on
the wet snarl with both gloved hands, even as it buzzes past her into the
lake. ... In the space of a second, she stretches the net back to the shape
it should be taking. It gapes wide, with the weights and pulleys fully
separate, and the mesh catches the wind just as it will the lake’s currents.”
-
On a kindergartner’s preparations for the first day of school: “She bounds
around the house in a white t-shirt, curls and underwear, straightening
her heart-shaped backpack and folders with neon unicorns before she slips
the Pocahontas dress over her head. Carmen White brushes her daughter’s
long blonde hair into a ponytail holder, and Molly plops on the stairs
to tie her shoelaces.”
-
The near mob scene outside an Indiana prison before an execution: “Both
sides eyed each other uneasily, circling warily until one Indianapolis
cop strode boldly, carrying a sign proclaiming justice was in the form
of voltage, into the thick of the ‘antis.’ ... The crowd roiled; fingers
found opponents’ faces and wagged.”
Some guidelines
There’s nothing special about the people or events in these stories.
But the sentences spring to life on the backs of verbs that infuse them
with energy. If you’ve never paid much attention to such word choices,
it’s easy to start. Here are a few tips:
-
Build a verb vocabulary. Develop a sixth sense that recognizes and treasures
strong, hard-working verbs.
-
Read writers who model the sort of writing you aspire to. Some of the oldest
works are among the best. The Bible, for example, is rich with imagery,
especially in the Psalms. And Shakespeare is practically without peer.
Witness this line from “The Tempest,” in which Trinculo is badmouthing
the king and duke of Naples to his shipwrecked cohorts Caliban and Stephan:
“They say there’s but five upon this isle: we are three of them; if th’
other two be brained like us, the state totters.”
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Take the time to go over your draft after writing. Pay close attention
to verb choice. Where possible, eschew ‘to be’ verbs — is, was, are and
the like — in favor of action verbs.
-
Watch for the chance to employ verbs that reflect sounds (the dog bayed,
the wind howled), which inject music into your writing.
-
Play with your verbs, searching for the one with just the right feel for
your text — but exercise care. Don’t go beyond the meaning of your sentence,
and don’t use a verb that casts facts or people in an improper light.
-
Watch for the chance to strengthen everyday verbs. “Walk,” for example,
could also be “amble,” “stumble” and “skip,” depending on the meaning you
need. Likewise, “sit” could as easily be “slouch,” “spread out” or “recline.”
It doesn’t take much time or effort to leaven dull copy with a touch of
such energy and panache. All it takes is the recognition of the magic verbs
can weave, and the desire to use them.
McGrath is special projects and enterprise editor at The Wichita
(Kan.) Eagle. He can be reached at kmcgrath@wichitaeagle.com
or at 316/268-6680.
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