I know. It brings back junior high school English. Conjugation! Yikes.
Grit your teeth! Here's your refresher:
'To Be' ~ the ultimate in passivity! Bolded here in an ironic twist:
I am
you are
he, she, or it is
we are
you (plural) are
they are
Just get rid of those milk-toasty, shoulder shrugging passive forms! Save no quarter for was and were, either!
To wit ~
Beth Ann was hungry and looked in the fridge.
Vs.
Famished, Beth Ann searched the shelves of the fridge.Or ~
Henry and Joe are mad. They are ready to fight.
Vs.
Fighting mad, Joe and Henry stood toe-to-toe.And, not to get too personal ~
Grandpa’s feet are stinky.
While we cannot extinguish the nefarious 'state of being' verb, we can shrink its status to that of a pesky flea in line for extermination.
Kill it before it kills your writing!
Make it 'Sweep #1' when you polish your work. Scan and rewrite to cast off the passive and weave in the active.
And Write, Dream Writers! Write!
