1. Choosing Engaging Verbs
Editing

2. Journalistic writing doesn’t have to be boring
Journalistic writing doesn’t have to be boring. True, slanted words aren’t good to use. Neither are ones that show opinion or too much emotion. But that doesn’t mean sticking with “is, are, was, were” and other dull words.

3. Make verbs specific
One thing that can help is to choose specific verbs, though ones without opinion.
Did the runner dash to the finish line? Or did he stumble or sprint or hobble?
If you watched carefully, you could describe his movements without showing your opinion.

4. Let’s look at some samples:
The earthquake was not particularly strong. Then it ticked past the sixty-second mark, making it longer than the others that week.
The earth snapped and popped and rippled.
His watch swept past the three-minute mark and kept going.
“The Really Big One,” 2106 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Features
Kathryn Schulz of The New Yorker
(describing seismologist Chris Goldfinger’s reactions
at the start of the 2011 earthquake in Japan)
Are these verbs slanted at all? How do you think the reporter got enough information to be comfortable using them?

5. The door swung open into a dining area
The door swung open into a dining area. Siatta strode into the unfamiliar space. A little more than six feet tall and weighing about 175 pounds, he was a thoroughly trained veteran of a small-unit ground war and heavily tattooed, with red tally marks on his sternum indicating seven Taliban kills from 2009 and 2010.
The women cowered behind a flimsy bedroom door. One of them dialed 911. Another clutched a stubby kitchen knife.
“The Fighter,” 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Features,
C.J. Chivers of The New York Times
(describing a former Marine’s PTSD violence)
Do these verbs perhaps have more opinion/slant than the previous ones? What about “cowered”?

6. Doomed partygoers trapped on the second floor of a crudely converted warehouse screamed, “Help us! Help us!” as one of the deadliest structure fires in Oakland’s history ripped through a tinderbox of makeshift living spaces and a labyrinth cluttered with art late Friday night, killing at least 24 people.
… officials conceded Saturday they had been unable to gain access during an inspection visit and it appears they did not follow up.
2017 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Breaking News,
the staff of the East Bay Times
A series of coverage stories about the Oakland “Ghost Ship” fire
These verbs don’t have to be used only in features. A series of stories about a fire in Oakland also uses descriptive verbs. Do you think the bottom example has gone too far? What does “conceded” seem to be saying?

7. Let’s look at some examples:
More members of the National Honor Society are going to see “Hamlet” Tuesday than did last year.
National Honor Society members signed up in greater numbers to see “Hamlet” this year.
There are fewer students in the band this fall.
Fewer students joined the band this fall.
These aren’t dramatic changes, but they are more specific and give the sentences more interest.