A Writer's Dozen - Archive

12 + 1 Verbs to Consider
List compiled by Lorraine First posted May 2006
What is the big thing about active verbs? You probably have scads of examples of when people, and therefore characters, do “just” walk, run, take, make, etc. But what if they didn’t have to “just” do mundane actions all the time? When you look in the dictionary, some verbs have columns and columns full of definitions. These are hard working, potentially over used, possibly blasé verbs. When you look them up in the thesaurus and the verb can mean a plethora of other words… perhaps it is appropriate to choose a more specific verb. Suddenly your character’s actions become more specific and perhaps your characters themselves come to life a little more for your reader. Walk: I suppose when I go to get my lunch from a local deli that I do “just” walk down the sidewalk. But what if one day I marched…or lumbered…or skulked…or limped…or skipped…or strode…or pranced...or flounced...or stomped...or shuffled...or floated...or staggered down the street? Or maybe paced my steps so I missed the cracks in the sidewalk? Or lunged so I could stamp out someone else’s discarded, but still burning, cigarette? Suddenly walking isn’t “just” walking. Run: Again, perhaps some people do “just” run into a room when they are late…but what if I charged…or dashed…or crashed…or pushed…or dove…or bolted...or sprinted...or sailed...or flew...or hastened...or darted into the room instead? What would “scurry” say about me? What would “explode”? Throw: Maybe I don’t throw the ball for my dog, maybe I toss it? Still pretty bland, hey? What if I pitched it? Or flung it? Or projected it? Or heaved it? Or launched it? Or jettisoned it? Or juggled it? Perhaps it would depend on my dog how I threw the ball. I might hurl a ball for my Spaniel, but I might lob it for my Terrier. Hold: What if someone holds me? Are they embracing me or squeezing me? Or are they grasping or grabbing me? Do they clutch and cling? Or do they hug or cradle? Do they encircle me with their arms? Or are they detaining me? Or possessing me? Or securing me? Push/Pull: What if I have to pull my reluctant dog to the vet? Do I lug him? Or tow? Drag? Tug? Haul? When I get to the door do I have to push him in? Or shove? Propel? Impel? Urge? Prod? Jostle? Thrust? Smile/Laugh: What if you tell a joke and some of your audience smiles while others laugh? Do they have a different reaction if they smirk? Grin? Roar? Simper? Cackle? Chuckle? Giggle? Titter? Snicker? Chortle? Snigger? Who enjoyed the joke? Who was offended by it? Who didn’t get it? Who thought it was beneath them? Eat: Instead of eating my supper, maybe I sip my wine and taste my steak? Or maybe I crunch, munch, gnaw, gulp and guzzle it? What if I supped? Or lapped? Or grazed? Or nibbled? Or swallowed? Or devoured? Or dined? Or gormandized? Or chewed? Which way would you like me to eat if I was sitting across from you at a fine dining restaurant? You’d probably be more comfortable with some of these behaviors if I had been lost in a cave for three days. Make: Do I make my story? Or do I create it? Construct it? Build it? Bake it (after all, aren’t some stories “half-baked”)? Mold it? Form it? Fashion it? Bring it to life? Render it? Resolve it? Hit: What if I had to hit someone who was trying to take my purse? Would I really “just” hit him? Tap him? Elbow him? Those actions seem a bit wimpy, don’t they? So, instead, maybe I pummeled him? Knocked him over? Thumped him? Cuffed him? Throttled him? Choked him? Beat him with the heel of my shoe? Maybe I grappled or wrestled with him? What would it say about me if I slapped him instead of clawing him? Move: Instead of moving to the music, what if we swayed? Too cliché? What about bobbed? Again, too predictable? Okay, maybe we oscillated? Or wiggled? Or pulsated? Or shook? Or shivered? Or quivered? Or gyrated? Or teetered? Or writhed? Or reeled? Or squirmed? Or jerked? What would these verbs say about us? Were we drunk? Uncomfortable with our dancing skills? Destined to end up in bed? Take: And maybe I don’t take the garden gnome from my neighbor’s garden, maybe I steal it? Or thieve it? Or plunder it? Or kidnap it? Or snatch it? Or abduct? Or pilfer it? Or appropriate it? Or confiscate it? Or spirit it away? Or pocket it (okay—it’d have to be a small gnome or a big pocket). Or smuggle it out of the garden? Or wrench it from its home by the peony? Give: Maybe I don’t give the document to you? Maybe I relinquish it? Or offer it? Or present it? But often it doesn’t work to just go through the thesaurus and choose one of the listed words—for example if I volunteer the document, I’m doing something very different from bequeathing, bestowing, awarding, granting, donating or endowing it. Plus... Say: I have to address the verb “say”. Yes, there are a lot of verbs that describe how we talk, but sometimes “say” is just “say”. In a stretch of dialogue the word “said” becomes almost like a period, your mind absorbs it without too much processing. There are times, though, when you’ll want your character to “say” something a little differently. Try changing the words or sentences the character is saying first. If all else fails, do try on a few different verbs, but I’d urge caution—don’t have your characters mumbling, whispering, shouting, yelling, echoing, reiterating, advising, announcing, reporting, expressing, informing, imparting, instructing, suggesting, hinting, insinuating, explaining, disclosing, declaring, asserting, affirming, or describing too many times in a passage. It’ll become cumbersome for your reader. So, these are just a few examples… I encourage you all to open your dictionaries and thesauruses and find the verbs that really work for your characters.

May 2006