Editing tip: Are you suffering from -ing disease?
Hey all! When I edit my clients’ manuscripts, I mostly focus on the story-level, but I’ve picked up quite a few line-editing tricks along the way. Here’s a hot tip about verbs that end in -ing.
In fiction, -ing verbs can be accurately used to:
(1) Indicate that two actions are happening simultaneously.
Example: While running to catch the bus, Jake dropped his keys.
(2) Show that an action is ongoing or still in progress.
Example: Ingrid wanted to use the oven for her pot roast, but the muffins were still baking.
Jason had been attending college for three years.
But when you misuse or overuse -ing verbs, it quickly becomes tedious and awkward for readers.
As an editor, here are the most common mistakes I see beginning fiction writers make with -ing verbs:
(1) Using -ing verbs to describe two or more actions that could not possibly be happening simultaneously.
Example: Walking across the room, Gayle sat down next to James.
Corrected: Gayle walked across the room and sat down next to James.
(2) Describing too many “ongoing” actions, which has the effect of making every scene feel like a summary.
Example: They ate dinner at Angie’s house, laughing about cat memes and snacking on bacon bits while Angie’s cat, who was lounging on the sofa licking his butthole and casting nervous glances around the room, wondered when someone would drop a bacon bit on the floor.
Corrected: They ate dinner at Angie’s house. While they laughed about cat memes and snacked on bacon bits, Angie’s cat lounged on the sofa. He licked his butthole and cast nervous glances around the room. He seemed to be wondering when someone would drop a bacon bit on the floor.
(3) Falling into the passive voice.
Example: We were eating lunch and then I was running home. As soon as I got into the kitchen, my mom was showing me my report card.
Corrected: We ate lunch and then I ran home. As soon as I got into the kitchen, my mom showed me my report card.
Of course, there’s appropriate uses for -ing verbs. But if any of these traps sound familiar to you, you might want to take a closer look when you’re editing your drafts. Personally, I treat -ing verbs like adverbs or the passive voice, and weed them out whenever possible.
As a general rule, never use a -ing verb where a simple past or present will do, and keep an eye out for impossible simultaneous actions.
Hope this helps!
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