Eliminating “to be” Verbs Using the Five Brush Strokes 1.Adjectives shifted out of order 2.Participles 3.Appositives 4.Absolutes 5.Action Verbs

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Sometimes you can simply replace the “be” verb with an action verb

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Sometimes you can simply replace the “be” verb with an action verb The girl was running down the road.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Sometimes you can simply replace the “be” verb with an action verb The girl was running down the road. The girl ran down the road.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Sometimes you can simply replace the “be” verb with an action verb The girl was running down the road. The girl ran down the road. But this oftentimes does not produce a better sentence.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Most often we need to tear the sentence out and rewrite it completely. This is when your Five Brush Strokes will help you.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs The house was green and red, and I will never forget the last time I saw it.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs The house was green and red, and I will never forget the last time I saw it. The house, green and red, impressed on me so much that I could never forget its sight.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs When I was sixteen, I remember my grandfather teaching me how to play the guitar.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs When I was sixteen, I remember my grandfather teaching me how to play the guitar. My grandfather, an accomplished guitar player, found pleasure in teaching me, a young man of sixteen, how to play his beloved instrument.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Jack and Jill had been going out for almost a year and nobody wanted them to break up.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs Jack and Jill had been going out for almost a year and nobody wanted them to break up. Having dated for almost a year, nobody wanted Jack and Jill to break up.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs It feels like I am being stabbed in the heart.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs It feels like I am being stabbed in the heart. Gasping for breath, clinging to life, the pain feels like a knife to my heart.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs I was ten years old, and I was afraid of the people.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs I was ten years old, and I was afraid of the people. At the tender age of ten, the simple sight of the people filled my heart with fear.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs These places I’ve been – no man can go.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs These places I’ve been – no man can go. Mind racing, imagination wondering, I have traveled to places no man can go.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs He was riding it down the street at 90 mph.

Eliminating “to be” Verbs He was riding it down the street at 90 mph. Unaware of the dangers ahead, he raced down the street in a flash of 90 mph.