Making some simple word edits can turn a flat scene into one that sings.
Back when I was first learning how to write, I loved discovering a great writing tip--the ones I could immediately apply to my work and see actual improvement were the best. I got especially excited over lists of words or specific examples, because I could search and find the weak areas right away. Which is probably why I like to do a lot of lists and examples now in my own articles.
While there's nothing inherently wrong with a "weak word," they do tend to hang around trouble areas--just like those red flag words with show, don't tell. They're good places to start when something feels off in your work or you're getting negative feedback and aren't sure why.
If you're looking for easy ways to improve your writing, here are great words to search for to identify potentially weak areas.
Let's a take a peek at a few of the more common troublemakers that often pull readers out of a story.