Use Stronger Verbs II

We’ve all heard it before, don’t use was and were. They are the puny ninety pound weaklings who get sand kicked in their sniveling faces. They’re speedbumps in the verbal highway. Yet they still end up infesting our manuscripts. Ready to lose them? Do this.

• Use them only when you can’t say it another way. Restructure whole sentences to avoid them.


• Study those times you can’t avoid them. After practicing this . . .


• You’ll learn when you should use them.

Yes, I said should.

When you have a manuscript full of was and were, you can’t tell when they actually work, when they’re powerful. Sometimes, was and were are the perfect choice!

For instance, after whole paragraphs of a character’s struggle to escape a building full of bad guys . . .

"There stood the open doorway. I ran down the tiled hallway, hopped over the pressure-plate, and dove to slide under the light beams. With a deep breath of night air, I stood. Brushing paint flecks from my jacket I stepped through the door.

I was free."

Why does "was" work in this last sentence?