Was, Is's and Had Beens

One of the hardest things for me about writing is rewriting. It's taking the helping verbs and turning them into action verbs.

The tedious task takes time but I have completed reading my 24,783 words and exchanging the needless Was's, Is's and Has beens, with action words.

Truly, the writing is more powerful and succinct without the helping verbs.

Here is an example:

Original draft.

Lizzy wondered how much her dad had paid Carla to stay at the house for the last two days but didn’t care because it had been wonderful. When Lizzy was little, Carla used to look after her. The last two days she was spoiled by Carla. Lizzy didn’t realize until then that she was missing it, the fussing, the feeding, and the silly conversations while she ate. Lizzy couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t eat alone in her kitchen.

revised:

The last two days with Carla felt wonderful and brought back memories. Lizzy didn’t care how much more her father paid Carla; she basked in the attention. Carla fussed, fed, and told silly stories about her new baby girl.

Now all I need to do is finish writing the story.