Transcript Strategies for Eliminating Be Verbs

Strategies for
Eliminating Be Verbs
Time Machine
Narrative Revisions
Step #1--Read your paper and circle
all be verbs.
–Be
–Is
–Are
–Was
–Were
–Am
–Being
–Been
Strategy #1
• Change the be verb to a
stronger, livelier verb.
• Example: She is unwilling
to clean her room.
• Revision: She refuses to
clean her room.
Strategy #2
• Eliminate the be verb by
writing one or more
showing sentences.
• Example: Her room is a
mess.
• Revision: Susan’s room
has clothes piled in the
corner, dirty dishes
hidden under the bed,
papers scattered on the
floor, and dust an inch
thick covering the
furniture.
Strategy #3
• Combine the sentence
with the one before or
after it using a phrase or
a clause.
Strategy #3
• Example: When I was six,
I went to the circus. I was
thrilled at what I saw.
• Revision: At the age of
six, going to my first
circus thrilled me.
Emergency Strategies Only!
• #4. Leave it alone if
changing it would
diminish or change the
meaning or create
awkward structure.
• #5. Omit the sentence.