Nuts and Bolts: “Thought” Verbs

Essay by Chuck Palahniuk September 16, 2011 3 comments
In:

Synopsis

You've always heard the maxim, "Show, don't tell..." but almost no writing teacher ever explains... How. Discover how to strengthen your prose by unpacking abstract and static verbs into descriptive action.

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Comments

lspieller's picture
lspieller from Los Angeles is reading LEVIATHAN October 31, 2012 - 5:16pm

i just cut 20 'thoughts' out of the first half of my novel. BOOM.

Larry Nocella's picture
Larry Nocella from USA is reading Loser's Memorial by Larry Nocella February 15, 2012 - 5:35pm

I'm working my way through the Chuck P. essays in sequence and this is the best one yet. I especially liked brainstorming and unpacking the phrase "Larry knew he was a dead man..."

bryanhowie's picture
bryanhowie from FW, ID is reading Comic books and motorcycle riding guides October 23, 2011 - 3:11pm

I've always called these words (think, knows, feels, wants, etc.) "Ego" verbs, because they make the narrator (or protagonist) the subject of the sentence.  And, in first person stories, they usually follow the word "I".