The "was" wars and "was" addiction (Page 1 of 2)

Sometimes the verb to be is useful; other times it is unnecessary: https://litreactor.com/columns/8-words- … ur-writing
"Is"
Is, am, are, was, or were—whatever form your "is" takes, it's likely useless. When's the last time you and your friends just "was'd" for a while? Have you ever said, "Hey, guys, I can't—I'm busy am-ing"?

The "is" verbs are connecting terms that stand between your readers and the actual description. This is especially true when it comes to the "is" + "ing" verb pair. Any time you use "is," you're telling the reader that the subject is in a state of being. Using an "ing" verb tells the audience the verb is in process. By using "is verbing," you're telling your audience that the subject is in the state of being of being in the process of doing something.

Take this example:

I was sprinting sprinted toward the doorway.

If the description is actually about a state of being—"they are  angry," "are evil," or "are dead"—then is it up. But don't gunk up your verbs with unnecessary is, am, or was-ing.

Other times it is invaluable http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-it-was- … ffith.html :

What it was was Football.

It was back last October, I believe it was.
We was going to hold a tent service off at this college town, and we got there about dinner time on Saturday.
Different ones of us thought that we ought to get us a mouthful to eat before we set up the tent.
So we got off the truck and followed this little bunch of people through this small little bitty patch of woods there, and we came up on a big sign that says, "Get something to Eat Here." I went up and got me two hot dogs and a big orange drink, and before I could take a mouthful of that food, this whole raft of people come up around me and got me to where I couldn't eat nothing, up like, and I dropped my big orange drink.
Well, friends, they commenced to move, and there wasn't so much that I could do but move with them. Well, we commenced to go through all kinds of doors and gates and I don't know what all, and I looked up over one of 'em and it says, "North Gate. "We kept on a-going through there, and pretty soon we come up on a young boy and he says, "Ticket, please. "And I says, "Friend, I don't have a ticket; I don't even know where it is that I'm a-going! "Well, he says, "Come on out as quick as you can. "And I says, "I'll do 'er; I'll turn right around the first chance I get." Well, we kept on a-moving through there, and pretty soon everybody got where it was that they was a-going, because they parted and I could see pretty good.
And what I seen was this whole raft of people a-sittin' on these two banks and a-lookin at one another across this pretty little green cow pasture. Somebody had took and drawed white lines all over it and drove posts in it, and I don't know what all, and I looked down there and I seen five or six convicts a running up and down and a-blowing whistles.
And then I looked down there and I seen these pretty girls wearin' these little bitty short dresses and a-dancing around, and so I thought I'd sit down and see what it was that was a-going to happen. About the time I got set down good I looked down there and I seen thirty or forty men come a-runnin' out of one end of a great big outhouse down there and everybody where I was a-settin' got up and hollered! And I asked this fella that was a sittin' beside of me, "Friend, what is it that they're a-hollerin' for? "Well, he whopped me on the back and he says, "Buddy, have a drink!" I says, "Well, I believe I will have another big orange. "I got it and set back down. When I got there again I seen that the men had got in two little bitty bunches down there real close together, and they voted.
They elected one man apiece, and them two men come out in the middle of that cow pasture and shook hands like they hadn't seen one another in a long time.
Then a convict came over to where they was a-standin', and he took out a quarter and they commenced to odd man right there! After a while I seen what it was they was odd-manning for.
It was that both bunches full of them wanted this funny lookin little pumpkin to play with.
And I know, friends, that they couldn't eat it because they kicked it the whole evenin' and it never busted. Both bunchesful wanted that thing.
One bunch got it and it made the other bunch just as mad as they could be! Friends, I seen that evenin' the awfulest fight that I ever have seen in all my life! They would run at one -another and kick one- another and throw one another down and stomp on one another and grind their feet in one another and I don't know what-all and just as fast as one of 'em would get hurt, they'd take him off and run another one on! Well, they done that as long as I set there, but pretty soon this boy that had said "Ticket, please." He come up to me and said, "Friend, you're gonna have to leave because it is that you don't have a ticket."And I says, "Well, all right." And I got up and left. I don't know friends, to this day, what it was that they was a doin' down there, but I have studied about it.
I think it was that it's some kindly of a contest where they see which bunchful of them men can take that pumpkin and run from one end of that cow pasture to the other without gettin' knocked down or steppin' in somethin'.

Memphis Trace

First off, let me say this: if there weren't a need for the word, it wouldn't exist. And seeing that it does exist, it's perfectly natural to use any form of the verb be: am, is, are, was, were and any contractions thereof.

I guess the thing that bothers some people is the repeated use of the same verb over and over, when there are other perfectly good words, and often more precise, that a writer could use. In your passage above of 181 words,you used Was-6 times, I’m (a contraction of I am) twice, and Is—8 times for a total of 16. (16/181 = almost 9%)  So, 9% of your writing is the same word.

Think of it: if 9% of your writing were a word like spaghetti, or conundrum, or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, people would say "Can't this guy think of another word to use?" Readers might not consciously notice the overuse of the forms of be, but after a while they will begin to tire of it. They will see reading your work as a chore, sort of like trying to read a semester's worth of history the night before the final. You tire, start thinking distracting thoughts, and eventually put the book down without having internalized the material. In other words, you get bored.

Do you really want to bore your readers into putting down your hard work without getting anything out of it? And maybe they never come back to read anything else you've written because they remember how tiring your words are.

Or is it worth the time to find some other words to express your thoughts? Maybe not because there's a 'rule' about it, but because you want to write stuff that will interest readers, make them think, and bring them back for more.

Yes, it's natural to use forms of be in writing, but sparingly.

JP

To be or not to be: that is the question...
Memphis Trace

Here's the most difficult example of was/were I came across as I wrote my current book. There are a total of six:

With the help of njc and Janet Reid, we got it down to three:

Nice, Temple! Thank you.

Being Dead by Jim Crace
I think therefore I am ~ Descartes
I Am that I Am ~ God
Memphis Trace

Thank you all for the suggestions. You have taught me how to fix a flat. Now I have to figure out how to drive so I don't get a flat in the first place.
Vern's idea that "was" happens when telling instead of showing turned out to be true. I checked my stories. Telling leads to overexplaining, a breeding ground for "was's." Showing invites dialogue, where "was" doesn't seem to occur.
JP, I was waiting for a list of words and their proper usage percentage, like a nutritional RDA, until I realized you were putting me on.  Very sneaky.
Memphis' reference to Robie Blair's column, his Andy Griffith story, and Marilyn's list all suddenly reminded me that there are other words that seem to have started to become a habit. I feel that in order to start to sound better, I just have to try very, very hard  to get them out of my system.
There. That's better.
Anybody else need help with another problem?
John

Add a little music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7mpAVtefdQ

Take care. Vern

If said and was were invisible, nobody would care how many of each were inserted into a writer's work. But since there are so many opinions and practices about both of those, we can hardly call either word invisible.

When I said that a reader tires of reading something that is filled with repetition of a word, I also mentioned the words 'not consciously.' It's something the human animal does.

We do a lot of things without being aware that we're doing them. Hold our breath during the national anthem? Eyeball an attractive member of the opposite sex? Read these rants in the forum? Feel compelled to respond? There's no accounting for the things we do.
JP

It comes down to "There are no concrete rules" for creative writing other than to use common sense. If something can be shown/explained/etc. without the use of a word which is often repetitious with most writers, then use a little "creativity" to rearrange the sentence into another way of saying the same thing (perhaps better) without making it shout out, "Look at me; I didn't use was here." And the debate goes on.... Good thing IS, we have a new addition to the country. Alabama just voted to rejoin the union. Take care. Vern

I never noticed Alabama was missing. JP