Was

So before I sent Chapter One, Scene Two to my beta reader for his feedback, I completed one full round of edits on the scene focusing only on the word "was."  My goal?  To delete as many wases as I could.  The reason?  Because, in general, the word was weakens writing.

Here's an example:

I was walking to school the other day, when I saw a homeless person rooting around in a dumpster.

Technically, nothing wrong with it.  In fact, most of us talk like that all the time.  But how we talk doesn't necessarily translate well to how we should write.

Consider this instead: 

I walked to school the other day and saw a homeless person, rooting around in a dumpster.

I don't know about you, but, when I remove the word was from my writing, my sentences are stronger.  There's no word between the subject and what the subject is doing.  In the case above, nothing comes between me (I) and the action (walked).   The writing sounds not only stronger but clearer.  Why include an extra word when you don't have to?  Writing should be pared down to the absolute minimum, still allowing you to get your meaning across (paring it down as much as you can usually allows for clearer meaning).

Did I delete every was?  No, I didn't.  There were occasions when, if I deleted it, my sentences sounded stiff, stilted, formal.  Sometimes, to maintain that conversational tone–if that's what you're aiming for–you want to keep your language a little looser.  In those cases, you keep constructions that include words you might not otherwise use.

But, in general, I find, just by focusing on eliminating the word was as many times as I can, my writing sounds better, more assertive, even more exciting.  Entire scenes are literally transformed, just by doing something as simple as that.  The difference is between writing that sounds droopy, and writing that snaps.  

Who wants droopy when you can snap?