Write Better Instantly? Use Power Verbs

Some novels don’t seem to be written all that much better than other novels. Yet for some reason they just read better. Why?

Without even looking, I can give you one huge reason: they use power verbs.

What’s a power verb? More often you’ll hear it called an “action verb,” but for me,  “power” comes closer to expressing the uncanny potency of these words. Power verbs are whole and complete. They don’t need help from modifying words or phrases to project a sharp picture.

But too often, non-specific, generic verbs are a writer’s first choice:

Joey entered the apartment and moved haltingly through the living room…

Joey “enters.” We have no idea how. Did he burst the door half off  its hinges? Did he lunge through? He “moves haltingly” through the liviing room. Why was a second word needed? To add specificity. “Moves” only indicates there was motion of some kind

If you “stagger” through a room we can see it.

We also have a head start on what the image implies: “stagger”  is loaded with implication – injury, possible disability, violence, etc.  And all this without a single adverb.

But contrast stagger with “move.” If a character “moves” through a room, we don’t see anything but a generality – motion. Period. And since generalities are abstract, we see nothing.

Sure, “move” can be made more specific by spicing it up with modifiers like awkwardly, crabwise, unevenly, but no matter how many adverbs we use, we’ll never end up with as clear or specific an image as “stagger” delivers in a single word.

If I seem to be saying never, never use general verbs, well…I never say never.  I’m saying that specific actions are the flesh and bones of good fiction, and power verbs are rich with specifics.  never say never, but I’ll go this far: in most situations, especially when describing action, power verbs will ALWAYS trump generic-verb-plus-modifier combinations. So let’s try again:

Joey exploded into the apartment and staggered through the living room…

Tagged as: novel, Style