Zombie Nouns Zap Readers’ Enthusiasm

 

By Candyce Carden

 

When I instructed writing students to use the simplest words available to communicate their message, they frowned in disbelief. When I stressed the value of concise writing, they slid their eyes sideways and recalled the expected word count. 

 

Many first-year composition students came to class with this mindset: “I must use multi-syllable words to sound smart.” My advice conflicted with their beliefs about college writing.

 

Perhaps that is no wonder, given how dull academic writing can be. Too much of it is passive and void of life. The worst of it abounds with nominalizations.

 

What are Nominalizations?

Normalizations are zombie nouns that put our readers to sleep. Some editors call the practice “nouning.”  They sneak into my writing sometimes. How about yours?

 

Zombie nouns are hidden verbs—verbs that have been turned into nouns. They sap energy from our writing. In the sentences below, the nominalizations are italicized.

 

Example 1:

The school’s drama club gave a performance of “Little Women” in May.

 

The school’s drama club performed “Little Women” in May.

 

Example 2:

The report gives an analysis of the problem of climate change and describes three possible solutions.

 

The report analyzes the climate change problem and describes three possible solutions.

 

In both examples, eliminating the zombie noun by using the verb activates the sentence. The rewrite is more direct, concise, and energetic.

 

Bible Authors Wrote with Zing 

You are probably familiar with biblical writing that sings. Writing that’s lyrical and surges with vitality. When I was in the classroom, I seized every opportunity to use the Bible as a teaching tool. For example, when we discussed varying sentence lengths, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) served as an example of possibly the most powerful two-word sentence ever recorded.

 

I borrowed an excellent Ted-Ed video to illustrate nominalization for my students. The clip leans on Ecclesiastes 9:11 with an excerpt from George Orwell’s satirical Politics and the English Language. In his essay, Orwell transforms King’s Solomon’s original sparkling passage into a dull, incomprehensible (zombie intended) piece of writing. Students connected with it. The five-minute animation entertains and will teach you more than I can in this space. Check it out by clicking the link below.

 

Beware of Nominalizations[1]

 

Writing clear sentences that zing, sparkle, and delight is a primary goal for writers. Before you hit the send or publish button, search your work for suffixes such as tion, ism, ity  ize and ness. Zap those zombies when possible.

 

Photos courtesy of Unspash.com, Brett Jordan, and Aaron Burden.

 

Candyce Carden is a writer, educator, and nature lover whose teaching experience ranges from preschool to college. She’s written for a variety of magazines, devotionals, and compilations. Her beach devotional, Waves of God’s Glory, releases spring 2026. Candyce and her husband divide time between north Georgia and Destin, Florida. The answer may not be at the beach, but should we not at least check?

 

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[1] Sword, Helen. “Beware of Nominalizations.” YouTube. (TedEd) October 31, 2012, 5:04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNlkHtMgcPQ.