Mary Rosenblum:  I wanted to talk about verbs today. I read a LOT of novice writing over the course of a year. And most of it is adequate.  But in this day and age, adequate will get you published in very small ezine markets or self published, but you really have to be more than adequate to sell to the larger, well established markets. Slush piles -- both editorial and agent -- are full of adequately written fiction. That's sort of where you need to start.  And one of the most consistent weaknesses I see in novice fiction AND personal narrative is bland, flabby prose.

 This isn't about characterization or plot structure...this is just the underuse of the English language.  Most novice writers start out using the same conversational vocabulary that they use every day.  This is fine for some types of personal narrative. You write like you talk and it makes the narrative personal.  But rarely are our conversations intended to do what our prose has to do -- to bring a visual reality to life for a reader.  The visual reality in conversation with a friend is all around us. Far too often I see prose that uses a lot of words that are  pretty nonspecific.  The more specific your words are, the more vivid the image you create.
She went and ate lunch.
Wow. I see so MUCH!
But I see this type of sentence a lot.

 She trudged the four blocks home to eat the stale peanut butter sandwich her mother had left for her.
Or...if this is a nonevent and you want to just get through it:
She rushed off to grab a bite of lunch.
Verbs can add a lot of nuance and imply a lot of backstory.  Amanda walked to school early.  What do we know?  Amanda proceeded to school early at a pace slower than a run. Amanda trudged to school early.  Now we've implied something...fatigue, she's anticipating something bad, she doesn't want to get there, in spite of the early hour.  So we have added a layer of information to the simple action of walking.
Amanda skipped to school early. Her mood is pretty clear...she loves to go, is anticipating something good. We've again added information to the action of walking.
Amanda marched to school. She has it in for someone today!
The English language is full of nuanced verbs and the more you use them, the more you make a single sentence do double duty --  show us the action and give us information about the actor's mood or intention.

So just changing one or two words can change the meaning of the whole sentence or even the paragraph!
Mary Rosenblum:  It can, David, and it will certainly change the tone.
Can it be overdone?
Mary Rosenblum:  Sure, verbose. Anything can be overdone!
How would you avoid it?
Mary Rosenblum:  Getting out the thesaurus and inserting obscure words is one excellent way to overdo it.
Amanda promenaded to school.
Give me a break!  You avoid it by using words where you know the nuance for a fact.
It comes back to trying to capture specifics, doesn't it?
Mary Rosenblum:  It does.  But don't overreach. The place to learn nuance is NOT in the pages of the thesaurus.  Try reading challenging books. That's where you're going to expand your vocabulary. If you're not sure of the nuance a word carries, don't use it.

Verbs have a huge effect on characterization. Part of the reason new writers have trouble with characterization is that they try to deal with it on too superficial a level.  Everything influences characterization.  One thing verbs do well is to convey mood. Characterization...good characterization...requires that the readers always be aware of the character's emotional tone. In real life, we are aware of that through body language and tone of voice. You can mimic reality nicely by revealing the character's body language all the time.  We notice it as readers, even if not consciously, the way we notice body language in the real world. Often that's not a conscious observation, we just 'know' that Billy is in a bad mood, or Angela is really happy today.
Jeff slouched into the room and dumped his books onto his desk.
I didn't have to tell the readers anything, did I? But I bet nearly 100 percent will know what Jeff's mood is.   Here's what I often see:
Jeff arrived at class in a really bad mood.
So let's look at verbs. We have arrived.   Visual?  No.  It gives us information. Someone has entered this particular bit of space. They could have driven up, stomped in. dropped down in a parachute, landed a plane. Arrived covers them all.
So when you read that sentence in your first draft, ask yourself 'how did he arrive'?  And what does the reader need to see and know here?
so and so walked in to the room...
Mary Rosenblum:  Better, David, but what does walked tell us? Just that he didn't run into the room. How many more specific synonyms for 'walk' can you come up with?
Sauntered into the room, walked cheerfully into the room?
Mary Rosenblum:  Sauntered is good, David. Skip the adverbs and just go for a more specific verb. What is a verb that means 'walked cheerfully'?   Sauntered works, although it can suggest a mood other than cheerful.  Strolled is pretty positive.
Strutted?
Mary Rosenblum:  Strutted is positive also, but look at the differences in all these verbs.  Sauntered implies a casual nonchalance.
Waltzed
Slid...(he's very late)
Mary Rosenblum:  He's not in a hurry, he's not worried, maybe he's happy to be here, maybe he's just not unhappy.
Waltzed is good. It implies someone who's maybe the class clown...late and making an entrance. Slid implies that he's late. Skidded would do that, too. We can see him running down the hall, sliding into that turn into the classroom. If he struts, he's maybe showing off, just won the home game, letting the teacher know that he's not going to let her push him around....the exact overtone will depend on the context.  If he staggers in we wonder if he's sick, hung over, just got beat up in the parking lot.  Tiptoed. He' s late, clearly! The teacher is glaring at him.  But unlike our 'slider' he's the kind of kid who's going to try and sneak in, rather than race to make it.
So here, you're implying character.  Look how much we can imply character.
Our POV is late.
How does he enter class?
He tiptoes in.
He slides in.
He struts in.
He slouches in.
Different person does each of these actions.
So we want few words as possible yes? rather than walked quietly into the room, he slipped into the room..
Mary Rosenblum:  Exactly, Dale. Adverbs aren't bad per se. They're just bad when they're a lazy out instead of using a stronger verb.  Sometimes you do need adverbs but not when you can use a stronger and more specific verb.
He limped into the room grasping his leg, his face reflected pain
Mary Rosenblum:  That's good, one, but more than we need, actually.  If he limps into the room, grasping his leg, nearly every reader is going to see him grimacing in pain.  That's the expectation. Now if you want to let the readers know that he's a total stoic, then you do have to show us that he's not grimacing.
I'm assuming that you can do this in a first draft, but it would commonly come in later in the polishing process, when you know your character better?
Mary Rosenblum:  I don't recommend that you even think about verbs in the first draft. As your prose skills get stronger, you are going to do this automatically - use stronger verbs, avoid to be verbs.  But for now, just work on this in the revision process.

 I do want to bring up the to be verbs. Was and Is are the most common weak points I see in novice narrative nonfiction and fiction.
He was going to the store. She was sleeping late. He was eating lunch.
A to be verb plus a gerund (verb ending in ...ing) are VERY week.
Arnie was going to school. He was getting very tired of trudging up the long hill very day. It was a long trip and it was especially unpleasant when it rained.
Who wants to get rid of ALL FOUR uses of 'was' here and give us the same information?
Annie went to school
Mary Rosenblum:  Here's a clue....you don't just remove 'was' from the sentence. You can change them. Remember...you just have to convey the same information.  Went  is another vanilla verb, Jann.  Try something more specific.  How did she get to school?
Arnie trudged to school. The hill wore him out, especially the pelting rain that soaked through his clothes.

Arnie trudged up the hill to school in the rain. He hated it.
Mary Rosenblum:  Dale and Jane, those are both good. Dale, I'd try for Arnie's own words when thinking about the rain. You're writing that clause like an author describing rain (pelting rain)  rather than a kid hating it.
Arnie trudged up the long hill to school. As if the repetitiveness was not enough, today the rain made it worse.
Mary Rosenblum:  Good steffy, but again, does Arnie think of it as the 'repetitiveness'?  Is that his vocabulary?
probably not
Mary Rosenblum:  How about Arnie trudged up the long hill to school. As if the stupid climb wasn't bad enough, today it was pouring.  It's fine to suggest that the reader is overhearing the POV's thoughts.
Arnie hurried to school, his legs ached from trudging up the hill. Rain blurred his eyes as he tripped in a puddle, Dratted rain.
How about this: Arnie trudge up the hill to school as he has done so many times. The rainy morning made the walk even less appealing than usual.
Mary Rosenblum:  Good queen. Yours, too, David. But you don't need 'as he had done so many times'.  Your use of  'than usual' tells us that he's done it many times.  You're all getting the idea. Was/is is another 'lazy way out'.
[Mary Rosenblum ] 10:43 am: An exercise I often use at writing workshops is to have everybody write a descriptive paragraph or two,. Then I make them take out EVERY to be verb.
Arnie trudged up the hill to school. the rainy morning made the walk even less appealing than usual.
Mary Rosenblum:  That's fine, David.  And see? Shorter.
"Damn rain," Arnie thought, trudging up the hill to school.
Mary Rosenblum:  And you can get rid of the gerund, jrp.  Damn rain. Anrie trudged up the hill to school.  Every reader knows that Arnie thinks 'damn rain'.  No need for   he thought.

The contradiction with weak verbs including, is and was, is that they have their uses. imo, especially when the writer is trying to not bring attention to the writing, but to the content of the story, the inaction, pacing, etc.
Mary Rosenblum:  Yes, at times, you want to use to be verbs. Often, they are the best way to simply get something across. BUT...using passive voice or lots of to be verbs to create a sense of a passive and weak character is not a good idea.  You don't want to bore the readers at the same time.

 So, to sum up, verb choices can add to your characterization by revealing character emotion, they can add extra details to your visual scene, they’re well worth paying a bit of attention to!   When you finish that first draft, run through your story and work specifically on those verbs.  And remember – the fewer ‘to be’ verbs you use, the stronger your story is going to be.