Hunting for Verbs

Excellent writing has many nuances. And, until last year, I thought I cradled a whole bunch of these beauties in my palm. A lot of very nice people even peered over my shoulder to say, "Ah, lovely collection of writing tools you've got there."

But then I started my first paid project that exceeded 5,000 words (by ten times, to be exact...yes, 200 pages of pure word after word, sentence after rising sentence).

That's when I realized I needed to change my ways. I needed to become a hunter— a verb hunter, that is. I mean, I just could not bear to subject readers to the same action words over and over again, like a never-ending merry-go-round of verbal monotony.

So, now... now, I am armed for verby pick-up duck. And, if you are a writer in search of great verbs, I invite you to join me.

Watch out, Annie Dillard...we are all over your verbs...like cotton candy on the chubby cheeks of a carnival-going kid.


Photograph by Gail Nadeau.