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I've seen a lot of people saying you should always delete the word "was," and it's getting confusing
I've seen more than a fair share of posts, forums and websites encouraging you to kill any form of the word "to be," including the word "was."
I did a quick search and found the word "was" more than 700 times in my completed first draft.
I started to run through them and try to figure out how to cut or change them, because everyone online wants to burn that word at the stake.
But sometimes it's harder than other times to get rid of it. And most of the time, in my manuscript anyway, I find that changing it would result in an incredibly awkward sentence.
Example 1:
"He was running down the street."
This is totally obvious because you can just change it to "He ran/sprinted down the street." I totally get this, and these are easy fixes.
Example 2:
"The bear's claws dug deep into his back. This was it. It was all over."
What the hell would I do with this? If I followed the advice of some people online, they would have me re-write that sentence to: "The bear's claws dug deep into the man's back. A sense of foreboding pulsed through his veins. His stomach churned. Imaginary shapes began to dance in front of his eyes as the pine trees began to go blurry around him. Death began to rear its ugly head as Smith's heart threatened to beat out of his chest."
I mean, I get it. Show don't tell, etc. etc. But if I go back and change every instance of "was" to an an elaborate paragraph of prose, my novel is gonna be 300,000 words. Turning one sentence into four just to get rid of the word "was" seems a bit extreme.
Example 3:
"Still, the thought of being trapped outside of town for the night, or even for a couple of hours, was about the least inviting thing he could think of."
What if something literally *is* something else, and that's what you are trying to say? Rose was his cousin. It was an invitation. The plastic on the headlight was cracked.
Long story short, I went back through and looked at all of the instances of "was" in my manuscript, and it seems like at least two-thirds of them couldn't be changed without it sounding completely ridiculous. Is there something I am missing, or is the word "was" not really as big of a deal as people say because it's so prevalent in common language? Thanks.
I've seen more than a fair share of posts, forums and websites encouraging you to kill any form of the word "to be," including the word "was."
I did a quick search and found the word "was" more than 700 times in my completed first draft.
I started to run through them and try to figure out how to cut or change them, because everyone online wants to burn that word at the stake.
But sometimes it's harder than other times to get rid of it. And most of the time, in my manuscript anyway, I find that changing it would result in an incredibly awkward sentence.
Example 1:
"He was running down the street."
This is totally obvious because you can just change it to "He ran/sprinted down the street." I totally get this, and these are easy fixes.
Example 2:
"The bear's claws dug deep into his back. This was it. It was all over."
What the hell would I do with this? If I followed the advice of some people online, they would have me re-write that sentence to: "The bear's claws dug deep into the man's back. A sense of foreboding pulsed through his veins. His stomach churned. Imaginary shapes began to dance in front of his eyes as the pine trees began to go blurry around him. Death began to rear its ugly head as Smith's heart threatened to beat out of his chest."
I mean, I get it. Show don't tell, etc. etc. But if I go back and change every instance of "was" to an an elaborate paragraph of prose, my novel is gonna be 300,000 words. Turning one sentence into four just to get rid of the word "was" seems a bit extreme.
Example 3:
"Still, the thought of being trapped outside of town for the night, or even for a couple of hours, was about the least inviting thing he could think of."
What if something literally *is* something else, and that's what you are trying to say? Rose was his cousin. It was an invitation. The plastic on the headlight was cracked.
Long story short, I went back through and looked at all of the instances of "was" in my manuscript, and it seems like at least two-thirds of them couldn't be changed without it sounding completely ridiculous. Is there something I am missing, or is the word "was" not really as big of a deal as people say because it's so prevalent in common language? Thanks.