Use Stronger Verbs III

Once one recognizes weak verbs, one also needs to know that they are sometimes desirable.

Yes, using stronger verbs is sometimes wrong.

Confused yet? Sometimes an artist needs a pastel, rather than a florescent. Weak verbs can be used to soften a scene's tone.

• The lovers strode the wooded path to hunt down a leafy niche.
  
• The lovers strolled the wooded path, seeking a leafy niche.

The second example, though the verbs are weaker (strolled, seeking), is much more in keeping with the tone. The first has a feel of a platoon of soldiers.

At times, strong verbs can even make a character’s action unbelievable. Choosing the right word can make a difference.

Who is in greater danger:

• She bent toward me and hissed, "If they overhear us, we'll both be dead."
  
• She leaned and whispered in my ear, "If they overhear us, we’ll both be dead."

Considering the first verb, it’s more than the ed inding. Bend/ bent is more exaggerated than lean/ leaned.
Considering the second verb, hissing is more easily overheard than whisper.
Standing alone, the second sentence sounds like a love scene, but in the context of an action sequence, few would take it that way.

An entire manuscript of strong verbiage simply wears a reader out. Weak verbs can be tools to give your reader a break between points of conflict, and set proper pacing in a story.

An entire piece written with a stream of strongest-possible verbs is one way to write purple prose—next week’s writing tip.