Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

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  • Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

    As I'm writing my script, I noticed I have a fair amount of verbs that end in "-ing" rather than "s" such as pouncing, swinging etc.

    Should this be minimized/rewritten. Is it a poor writing choice to frequently end verbs with "-ing"?

  • #2
    Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

    It's not a poor writing choice. But rewording to avoid 'ing' is one of those silly writing tricks that helps make the scene less static.

    It shouldn't really work, and I'm sure there are plenty of counter examples .. but it definitely helps in plenty of cases.

    I can't put my finger on exactly what it is - perhaps it forces the attention onto the action instead of the object? Sometimes it actually changes the scene. (eg: "He is sitting" means that he isn't changing at all during the scene. But "He sits" implies action.) Of course, if you *want* to show that the character is static then 'ing' is your friend.

    I often try both versions and I usually find that 'ing'-less version simply flows better.

    Try it - if you don't find that it's helpful then don't do it.

    Mac
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    • #3
      Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

      Hi Goldy,

      Show us a couple of pages where it bothers you the most and we'll see if we can help.

      If we can, then apply same principle to the rest of the script.

      Too easy.
      sigpic

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      • #4
        Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

        There's a couple of Scriptnotes all about verbs which are worth checking out - I think they.re Ep.42 (Exciting verbs) and Ep.52 (Passive voice).
        My stuff

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        • #5
          Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

          Short answer -- yes.
          This is a very helpful cheat sheet.

          http://yourscreenplaysucks.wordpress.com/7-deadly-sins-of-writing/

          Good luck.

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          • #6
            Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

            I wouldn't cut something out of your writing just because someone on a forum - no matter how amazingly brilliant they may be - told you to.

            Here's the thing - and my advice comes with so much salt doctors are trying to ban it. So much of being a writer, particularly a new writer trying to get noticed, is about voice. And I think this is largely because voice can't be faked. It's in everything, from your choice of title, subject matter, characters, dialogue, world-view, setting. It's there in your word choices, the way you use grammar, your sentence construction, your use of white space, your emphasis on sound over image or vice versa, your suggestions re: music and clothing. All of this makes your voice.

            Now. Suddenly you try and force one of those elements to be different because you heard somewhere that you're doing it wrong. Now you're impersonating someone else's voice.

            That's not to say that as a writer your voice shouldn't evolve and improve. Your voice may get honed via feedback, or just your own understanding of what isn't necessary in a script. But it has to come from you - not some arbitrary rule.

            That's my humble opinion, anyway.

            JJ.
            My stuff

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            • #7
              Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

              Originally posted by ClintW3 View Post
              Short answer -- yes.
              This is a very helpful cheat sheet.

              http://yourscreenplaysucks.wordpress.com/7-deadly-sins-of-writing/
              Much of that guy's advice sucks. And his book "Your Screenplay Sucks" sucks.

              For example, he says to avoid the word "the". And IIRC, he doesn't say why "the" shouldn't be used here or there; just that too many "thes" make you look like a hack writer. Follow his advice on that, and your action reads like ESL. Dead ESL.

              And even the advice he gets kinda right, such as "image order" when writing description - he's a zealot. For him, it's as if image-order were computer code. Oh, and don't use the word "is".

              IMO - and that's my caveat - ing-words are fine if you want to provide a sense that the action is underway. "Billy plays the piano as Mom enters the front door." IMO, "Billy's playing the piano as Mom enters the front door" - that flows better. OTOH, if you want to suggest that Billy just starts to play as Mom enters - "Oh, ****. Mom's home." - then the first one seems the better.

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              • #8
                Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                Originally posted by Manchester View Post
                ... "Billy's playing the piano as Mom enters the front door" - that flows better. ...
                "Billy's playing the piano as Mom is entering the front door" - that is flowing much better.

                In your writing if you are doing anything frequently enough that it may get noticed and distract the reader, it might be wise to change it.
                "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                - Clive Barker, Galilee

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                • #9
                  Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                  Here's the thing:

                  "He grins," and "He is grinning," can mean different things.

                  Sometimes you WANT the latter.

                  The problem is twofold:

                  First, don't use "he is shooting" when you mean "he shoots." Understand the difference. For some reason a lot of newbie writers default to the -ing verb when that's not what they mean, which has contributed to them getting a bad rap.

                  The second is that a lot of the time context turns "he runs" to "he is running," anyway, and therefore, often, the second is unnecessary and wordy. It may still be a stylistic choice, but by convention we tend to use "he runs" when the context makes it obvious.

                  eg:

                  INT. BEDROOM - DAY

                  The alarm blares. Jeremy look at the clock.

                  JEREMY
                  Oh no!

                  EXT. SCHOOL - DAY

                  Jeremy sprints towards the school.


                  Now, I imagine when you read that, you probably pictured the second scene starting with Jeremy already mid-sprint. By that logic, you could write "Jeremy is sprinting ..." since he's already in the middle of it. But that's going to read as clunky to a lot of people. Context makes it clear that he's not starting to sprint, and therefore "Jeremy sprints ..." is standard.

                  Now, it doesn't require anywhere near this much context for readers to understand what you mean - this is an intentionally obvious example. In fact, much of the time when you enter a scene you can and probably should use the present rather than the present continuous tense. Plus, there are some verbs which you can't use the present continues tense with - the so-called "non continuous" verbs.

                  But there's no reason to go through and remove -ing verbs that are actually communicating important information that you're trying to convey.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                    Originally posted by TwoBrad Bradley View Post
                    In your writing if you are doing anything frequently enough that it may get noticed and distract the reader, it might be wise to change it.
                    OK.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                      Originally posted by Ronaldinho View Post
                      First, don't use "he is shooting" when you mean "he shoots." Understand the difference.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                        Unless it changes the meaning as Ronaldinho mentioned, it really doesn't matter. No one in Hollywood notices or cares.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                          I checked out that website. My favorite example of his:

                          walk
                          Tika walks down the hall... Tika prisses down the hall.


                          Who uses the word prisses? If someone reads fast, I bet he'd read that as
                          Tika pisses down the hall.

                          Something women rarely do. Now guys, on the other hand--

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                          • #14
                            Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                            +1 y'all. Great thread

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                            • #15
                              Re: Should my Frequent use of "-ING" Verbs be Minimized?

                              When it comes to grammar in your description, there is the "clean" style as you are taught in school and the APA style and whatnot, but it really comes down to personal style and taste. Both of the writer and the reader -- but really, it is inconsequential as long as it doesn't sound too amateur.

                              Not to get too word nerd, but I always feel it amateur when a writer constantly uses the present progressive tense for the sentence's action verb instead of the simple present tense: 'He is running. She is talking to... It is sitting on...' rather than 'He runs. She talks to... It sits on...' The second set is just so much cleaner. But if you use -ing verbs as descriptive clauses, it can add a lot of energy and visualization. "The monster lunges; snarling, spitting, swiping its claws..." One of my favs Tony Gilroy probably averages twenty -ing's a page this way.
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