PRos in Training

Ises and ares and to bes. Blech. Weak verbs can make your writing boring and wordy. In one of my first agency positions after I graduated from college, my manager went so far as to call them “lazy.” This same manager and her (sometimes) harsh feedback drove me to make changes in my writing style. But catching weak verbs before they come off the end of your fingers onto the screen or paper challenges even experienced writers. I developed a trick that I used until I’d retrained my writing brain. My only tool? A highlighter. Take a printed copy of the assignment (work or school) and a highligher in your choice of color. Start at the top of the page and highlight every form of the verb “to be”: am, are, is, was, were, will be, has been, have been, had been, etc. Focus primarily on is, are, were. Work... Continue Reading