There was a great guest blogger on Ask the Publishing Guru the other day. The post, Using Strong Verbs for Strong Writing by Jose M. Blanco, explored the difference verb choice can make in your writing and included several examples. The suggestions provided in the post will prove to be extremely valuable when I get to the editing stage. The main suggestion was to underline any use of “Be, Is, Are, Was, Been, Being, Were, Has, Have, Having, Had.” These verbs are generally weak verbs. By underlining them, you can pinpoint where you are using them and then see if you can find a stronger verb choice. You should definitely check it out and bookmark it for your future editing needs. Once I get to that point in editing, I will let you know how this exercise works for me.