Forbidden Words

There are a couple of words that we use everyday that, as a writer, you should avoid. It's not always possible to cut them from a sentence, and there may be times when they're appropriate. No, I'm not talking about curse words. I'm talking about words that make you sound like an amateur author. They take up space without giving meaning. They slow down your readers. Here's my list of forbidden words that you need to watch out for in your writing.

1. "Was/Is"

Of course you can't always avoid using was or is in a sentence. They're conjugations of the verb "to be," after all, and there are many times when you need them. But "was/is" are often used in phrases that are detrimental to your writing, so if you see "was/is" you need to be on the lookout for these situations:

        A. Passive voice.

Passive voice is where the subject of a sentence is the receiver of the action. For example, "The rock was picked up by Scarlet." It's much better to say, "Scarlet picked up the rock." As you can see, "was/is" almost always accompanies the passive voice. If you know who is doing the action, cut out "was/is" and make the person doing the action the subject. It makes for a much stronger sentence.

An English professor told me there is one occasion where passive voice is okay, and that is when the person receiving the action is being victimized. So, the active voice would be, "Someone killed my friend," and the passive would be, "My friend was killed." The passive here emphasizes that the friend was the victim and puts focus on them rather than the killer. 

        B. Present participles (-ing verbs)

I don't mind this one so much in the present tense (how often do you say, "I go to the store," rather than, "I'm going to the store"), but I try to avoid it in the past tense when writing professionally. Instead of "I was changing diapers constantly," write, "I changed diapers constantly." Instead of "He was coming toward me," write, "He came toward me." It makes the verb stronger and so makes your writing stronger, too.

The exception for this is if the action is interrupted. So, "She was running when the rock hit her," is okay. Especially since, "She ran when the rock hit her," means something different. Also if a character doesn't notice something until the action has already been going on for a while, using the past participle might also be okay. For example, "The girl looked up. The ball was flying at her." But I still try to avoid this unless it really feels right.

Like I said, was/is are sometimes necessary, but if you see them often in your writing, ask yourself what they're doing in a sentence and whether there is a better way of expressing what you want to say.

2. "Started"

I used to use "started" all the time until a creative writing professor said I should completely cut it out. She said I don't need to describe the start of an action, I can just say what action happened and be done with it. So instead of, "I started running," say, "I ran." If you really want to emphasize that it happened without preamble, use a strong verb like, "I broke into a run." 

3. "Suddenly"

Similar to "started," you don't need to describe the abruptness of an action with "suddenly." If you do, then the verb you're using to describe the action isn't strong enough. There are other ways to convey that an action is interrupting another action, too. You can cut someone off mid-sentence ("He said, 'I am tired of telling--' The woman slapped him" doesn't require that you say she suddenly slapped him), or use onomatopoeia ("The girl sat quietly. Bam! Something hit her from behind"). Suddenly, started, and all their synonyms are throw-away words that make your writing weaker.

4. Adverbs

This one is the hardest for me. Who doesn't like a good adverb? But adverbs are a bit of a crutch for weak verbs. "He said angrily" can be replaced with, "He snapped." "She slowly backed away" can be turned into, "She inched out of the room." Do you see how those new verbs have so much more flavor and description to them? I don't know if you have to cut every adverb from your writing (though I had a professor who thought you should), but if you are describing every action with something-ly, it can get annoying and you ought to consider some better verbs.

Art by Juhele

In creative writing, we want our words to pop. We often think of adjectives and adverbs as being descriptive words, but in reality, verbs and nouns can be just as descriptive. If you avoid the forbidden words above and replace them with bold verbs and nouns, your writing with be much stronger and more enjoyable to read.