Strong Verbs Strong Voice

by Ann Everett

Without verbs, where would a story go? NOWHERE. Characters, animals, and nature can’t be or do anything without a verb. Characters can’t laugh, animals can’t attack, and trees can’t sway in the breeze. Verbs provide excitement, drive the narrative and paint vivid pictures. Why say, she looked, if she can gawk, spy, or examine? Looked offers vague action, where the alternatives show action and expression. The right verb choice can illustrate the character’s state of mind, his mood, as well as physical characteristics. Inside this book, you’ll find stronger choices listed in alphabetical order for everyday verbs such as enter, walk, ran, took, etc. This quick reference will help you use more descriptive verbs to convey better images in the reader’s mind.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Research

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2014

About the author

She’s married to her high school sweetheart.

Loves shopping at thrift stores.

Doesn’t remember her first kiss.

Hates talking on the telephone.

A really sharp pencil makes her happy.

She secretly wants to get a tattoo.

She thinks everyone should own a pair of cowboy boots.

She’s thankful wrinkles aren’t painful.

She sucks at math.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful resource to help tighten up your writing.
To sum it up: there's a verb for every occasion!

[Sassy Jacksun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that is simply a list of alternative verbs that could be used for common verbs in the English language. Also, this book could be considered a quick reference guide for writers. That's all. Was it worth $1.00? I'm not sure. One could use the Thesaurus in Microsoft Word to achieve similar results. Yes, the lists were more extensive than the lists in Microsoft Word, which would be a positive reason to consider purchasing this book. Also, a few other reviews said there were grammar tips in this book, but I only saw one tip in the Kindle version I read. If there were more grammar tips with each list of verbs, I would have rated this book much higher.

[J. Dorner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sort-of verb thesaurus for replacing 27 words. Sprinkled with a few tips on how best to use them.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely Useful

Great idea...highly recommend this to writers. Loved the layout of the book. My library is now complete with this resource.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets a three star review from me because it is really just a list of verbs and nothing more. It doesn't address verb usage and just seems to be vocabulary to impress a reader. Only it isn't that impressive. I found most of the verbs to be fairly commonplace and nothing special. I realize that writers want to avoid having their readers jump into a dictionary for definitions, but I feel that this book underestimates writers and readers. I read through the entire list and found it ineffective for my needs. I think I will stick to the thesauraus I purchased in 5th grade. It may be falling apart, but it is still effective.

[Serena W. Sorrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could be a bit more varied and exhaustive. But not bad for a deck to bounce words off of.

[B. AGHA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book- very helpful and easy to use when a writer gets stuck.