Revising Your Prose For Power And Punch Pdf -

If a sentence uses make, do, have, give, take + an abstract noun, change the noun into a verb. 2.2 Destroy the Passive Voice (Most of the Time) Passive hides the actor. Active drives the sentence.

Keep this guide beside you. Use the checklist. Read aloud. And remember: — William Strunk Jr. Now go revise with power and punch. End of guide. For personal use. Last updated: 2025. If you'd like, I can also reformat this into actual PDF layout instructions (margins, font choices, heading styles) so you can export it cleanly. Just let me know.

| Weak ending | Strong ending | |-------------|---------------| | He was a man of great integrity. | He had integrity. | | That is the way things are. | That is reality. | Often, opening qualifiers dilute power. revising your prose for power and punch pdf

Delete every -ly word. Then see if the sentence loses meaning. If yes, replace the verb. 2.4 Hunt Down These Empty Phrases Cut these automatically:

| Wordy | Punchy | |-------|--------| | “Are you coming?” he asked. “No,” she replied. “Why not?” he asked. | “Are you coming?” “No.” “Why not?” | Don’t let characters say exactly what they mean. Punchy dialogue implies. If a sentence uses make, do, have, give,

| Weak (Nominalization) | Punchy (Verb) | |----------------------|---------------| | He made an accusation. | He accused. | | The committee conducted an investigation. | The committee investigated. | | She had a realization. | She realized. |

| Weak | Punchy | |------|--------| | She ran quickly. | She sprinted. | | “No,” he said angrily. | “No,” he snapped. | | He spoke softly. | He murmured. | Keep this guide beside you

| Passive | Active | |---------|--------| | The ball was hit by John. | John hit the ball. | | Mistakes were made. | I/We/They made mistakes. |

Use passive when the actor is unknown or unimportant (“The bank was robbed at midnight”). 2.3 Execute Adverbs – Especially After Dialog Adverbs tell. Strong verbs show.