Why “Directionless Verbs” Are Silently Sabotaging Your Writing—And How to Fix It Now
Ever catch yourself wondering why some writing feels like it’s just blowing smoke—lots of action words that say a lot but really mean zilch? It’s like taking a wrong turn on a map, only to realize you never had a destination in the first place. As someone who’s spent years untangling the chaos of SEO, content marketing, and the maddening world of digital writing, I can tell you that those vague verbs—“change,” “impact,” “transform”—they’re the culprits wasting your readers’ time and letting your message limp instead of sprint. Here’s the kicker: in an age where eyeballs skim faster than ever and patience runs thin, every word you toss onto the page better pull its weight, or you’re just shouting into the void. So, how do you cut through the fluff and make your writing pack a punch that really lands? Let’s dive into why ditching directionless verbs isn’t just good advice—it’s the secret sauce to clarity, power, and keeping those readers hooked. LEARN MORE
They waste your readers’ time and are a writing cop out.
I write for a living, which means that I, more than anyone, know how little people read. This is not a negative sentiment — I know people are busy, our eyes are lazy, and thanks to things like AI text generation and optimizing for search engines, a lot of online writing is unnecessarily chunky and fluffy. In most cases, we’re used to scanning instead of digesting text. That means that as a writer, if you want readers to really get what you’re trying to say, it’s super critical that every word you use earns its place on the page.
I know, for example, that you skimmed that paragraph! Let me restate it in an easy-to-parse single line:
People read bad, so every word matters.
There are many ways writers practice their craft to meet that aim, but there’s one I picked up from an old editor of mine that I’ve never let go (Chris, if you’re reading this, thank you forever!):
Take out directionless verbs
What is a directionless verb? These are words that communicate some kind of action, but don’t tell you the vector (direction) or magnitude (size of the effect). Think of, for example:
- Change. Change how? How much? In what way? For better or for worse?
- Impact. Good or bad impact? How big was the impact? What effect did the impact have? (I also hate “impactful” but that’s a rant for another story.)
- Transform. How big was the transformation? What was the result of it? Was it a good or bad one?
- And others like affect, influence, modify, and shift.
How can you replace them?
Swapping out directionless verbs
Take this sentence as an example: “The company culture changed over time.”
We have no idea how the culture changed. A beneficial change? A big one, a small one?
Let’s change it to something more communicative:
- “The company culture deteriorated over time.”
- “The company culture improved over time.”
