“To be, or not to be?” Not is usually the answer.

Eliminate the verb “to be.” This basic writing and revision tip you’ll hear all over the place, although much of the advice I’ve read is missing important points—or at least points that I consider important.

What do we mean by “to be” verbs? We mean copulative verbs, also known as “linking verbs,” that is, verbs that join two different things in the sentence and tie them together. Besides be, look for the words am, are, is, was, were, been, and being.

Why get rid of these words? Because (1) the verb is the most powerful word in your sentence, and (2) these verbs add nothing, nada, zippo, zilch, zero meaning to the sentence. A copulative merely connects other words of the sentence together, foisting on them all of the responsibility that the verb itself ought to take.

But that’s not the end of the story! Other words can also be copulatives, words like become, get, feel, and seem. For example: “She became a little girl. She got depressed. She felt sad. She seemed unable to go on.” If you’re going to write that, just be honest and say, “She was a little girl. She was depressed. She was sad. She was unable to go on.” It’ll be just as boring.

So what do you do when you discover a “to be” verb? Here are 7 things you can look at to deal with them.

A fundamental rule of style is that you should avoid the verb “to be,” preferring instead strong, descriptive verbs that show, rather than tell.

As an example, instead of writing, “The light was bright,” you should prefer, “The light blinded her as a hot-white flame,” or some such. So every time you use am, is, are, was, were, be, been, or being, that’s a signal that you need to rephrase…

EXCEPT...

As it turns out, this common rule of thumb oversimplifies the issue, sometimes to the point that confusion can result.

No less a writer than Holly Lisle gives a misleading example, on her web page about one-pass manuscript revision:

Is your scene full of weak words? How many times have you used is, was, or were?… Eliminate forms of the verb “to be” wherever you find them, rewriting the sentence with a stronger verb. “It was raining,” becomes “The rain slashed down, tearing up the gardens and ripping leaves from the trees.”

But the verb in that sentence is not the verb “to be”!