To Be Or Not To Be

One of the things I believe separates amateur writers from professionals is word choice. I'm not talking about impressing folks with unnecessary polysyllabic nonsense. I'm talking about choosing words rather than simply using the first ones that come to mind. While I have a list of about 7 words I try to avoid at all times (always, forever, perfect and my own personal tetragrammaton, l-v-, come to mind), the verb "to be" is right up there.

Substituting was, were, is, being, been and the like with other verbs or by rearranging the sentence typically adds strength to one's writing. Take the first sentence of this post:

"One of the things I believe separates amateur writers from professionals is word choice."

Let's take out the "is" and rework the sentence.

"I believe word choice separates amateur writers from professionals." Or, more definitively, "Word choice separates amateur writers from professionals." I've also omitted "things" which was an example of me being a lazy writer and "I believe" which has an element of weakness to it as it's only one person's opinion.

Are there times "to be"? Sure. I typically give "to be" a reprieve in dialogue because that's how a lot of people talk. If you have a particularly weak, passive or uncertain character or situation, the passive voice that the verb "to be" engenders also works well.

The idea of "choosing words" is a big topic. Substituting "to be" is but a small piece of that pie.