LineLevel Revisions FROM TELL IT SLANT MILLER AND

Line-Level Revisions FROM TELL IT SLANT, MILLER AND PAOLA

3 Quick Fixes “Search and Destroy”: Strengthening Your Verbs ”The Adjective/Adverb Purge”: Strengthening Your Nouns “The Punch”: Strengthening your end words

1. Search out variations of “to be” On your draft, circle every: “is “are” ”was” “were” “am” (Don’t miss the ones that are hiding in contractions!) These are the weakest verbs. They can flatten out your prose or poetic lines.

“Muscle Up” your verbs Go back and see if you can rework any sentences or lines to eliminate the weak verbs. If the sentence or line is in passive voice, you’ll revise to active voice. Make the sentence do something! You might eliminate the sentence altogether if it isn’t pulling its weight. Example: “We were invited by our neighbors to attend their party. ” “Our neighbors invited us to attend their party. ” Could it be even stronger? Look at the verbs.

Eliminate the adjective crutch Go back and circle any adjectives (words that describe nouns) or adverbs (words that describe verbs). Scrutinize these words. Do you need them? Look at the noun or verb. Is the adjective/adverb “propping up” weak words? Can you re-work the sentence to eliminate the adjective/adverb? Do you need to change what surrounds it? From Mark Twain: …don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.

Punch Up Your End Words Read a few paragraphs or stanzas and note the words that end your sentences or your lines, and the words that end your paragraphs or stanzas. Are these strong nouns or verbs? Do they have a satisfying sound? If not, how could you re-work the lines to end on strong notes? What word ends your piece? What word ends the whole project? How do these words evoke the tone or meaning you want to convey? Do they connect back to the beginning in any way? Should or could they?

Words of Wisdom Evan Connell: “Words are all we have, and they better be the right ones. ” Lauren Camp: “To craft is, beyond all else, to be patient—alternating between attention and respite—which allows the ideas to shift and life to move along, offering new understanding to the creative work. ”