Revising Your Prose For Power And Punch Pdf ✦ Pro

Use passive when the actor is unknown or unimportant (“The bank was robbed at midnight”). 2.3 Execute Adverbs – Especially After Dialog Adverbs tell. Strong verbs show.

| Wordy | Punchy | |-------|--------| | “Are you coming?” he asked. “No,” she replied. “Why not?” he asked. | “Are you coming?” “No.” “Why not?” | Don’t let characters say exactly what they mean. Punchy dialogue implies. revising your prose for power and punch pdf

If a sentence uses make, do, have, give, take + an abstract noun, change the noun into a verb. 2.2 Destroy the Passive Voice (Most of the Time) Passive hides the actor. Active drives the sentence. Use passive when the actor is unknown or

| Passive | Active | |---------|--------| | The ball was hit by John. | John hit the ball. | | Mistakes were made. | I/We/They made mistakes. | | Wordy | Punchy | |-------|--------| | “Are you coming

| Weak ending | Strong ending | |-------------|---------------| | He was a man of great integrity. | He had integrity. | | That is the way things are. | That is reality. | Often, opening qualifiers dilute power.

| Weak | Punchy | |------|--------| | There is a problem with the plan. | The plan has a problem. | | It was her habit to arrive late. | She habitually arrived late. | | The point is that we need money. | We need money. | 3.1 Start Strong – Front-Load Your Sentences Put the most important word near the beginning.

| Weak | Punchy | |------|--------| | She ran quickly. | She sprinted. | | “No,” he said angrily. | “No,” he snapped. | | He spoke softly. | He murmured. |