I’m in edit mode. Crossing off and hacking away at my little pretties can be difficult at times. But one thing I’m focusing on lately is Thought Verbs.
You know them: know, think, imagine, want, believe, and remember. This list could go on forever. I try to narrow in on these verbs and see if they are really necessary in my story. Avoiding overuse of these verbs can help your writing in a couple of way.
- Closer Point of View (POV). Wicked Dwarf is always quick to point that “she knew” or “he thought” is stating the obvious. And when you’re in a close POV, “knew” or “thought” isn’t needed. As readers, we want to meld and identify with the characters, not be constantly reminded we our outsiders.
Instead of saying: She knew that Michael would loathe the idea of a party.
Just say: Michael would loathe the idea of a party.
- Show Don’t Tell. Instead of telling the readers what they should think about the character(s) or situation, give them some credit and show them. If you show them, they will be immersed in your world. I’m often guilty of this. Showing takes more effort, but the end result is worth it.
Instead of saying: Karlee wanted to go to the Pink concert but couldn’t afford it.
Show us: Karlee loaded her Pink playlist on her iPod for the third time today and stared at her empty wallet. She had ten more days to figure out how to get the money. She twirled a piece of bleached blond hair around her finger. One minute later she was on her computer researching selling hair or any other non-vital body part.
Well, back to work for me. I’ll sharpen my blades and keep an eye out for these sneaky darlings. Happy Writing!
The World of the 7 Evil Dwarves 
lisamorrowbooks
/ August 4, 2014This is great! You are absolutely right, and your blog reminded me of a few more things I need to pay attention to as I edit my novels. 🙂