"Sharpening" by Ken Macrorie

Sharpening, in Ken Marcrorie's words means to give life to your writing. He states most beginning writers and some veteran writers use in excess the verb is(and all other forms of to be). Is by itself is meaningless, linking too many adjectives and nouns together deflating the life from the sentence. For example, Ken Marcrorie quotes Shakespeare's 'Macbeth':
"This tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues,
Was once thought honest."

If Shakespeare incorporated excessive forms of to be, the line would read:
"This tyrant whose sole name is a blister on our tongues,
Was once thought to be honest."
He uses Is-ness and It-ache as explanation of a writer's inability to free themselves to use powerful words.

It & there take the place of an otherwise powerful noun leaving adjectives and adverbs without meaning or effect. Which type of sentence intrigues readers, passive or aggressive?
Passive sentences inhabit the is-ness and the it-ache. For example, Ken Marcrorie mentions this sentence:

"The object that was stepped on by me was a ladybug with lavender spots."
An aggressive (sharpened) sentence would read:
"I stepped on a ladybug with lavender spots."
Ken Marcrorie also stresses the use of verbs with more meaning than just the basic verb get or make, etc. Enlighten the reader, invite them in. Don't leave them yawning.
He also touches base on weasleries. He states, "There is a time to be cautious and a time to be bold." Don't apologize for your words. In his example, "She was unusually hideous." He claims the writer lessens the power of hideous with the weak word unusually.

His statements aren't intended to massacre the use of it & is, only raising attention to excessive use, enticing writers to give more meaning to their words. His moral is not to do away with all uses of the cited words, but to learn where to look for possible weak spots in your sentences.
When reviewing your writing ask yourself, "If the adjectives and adverbs are pulling their weight? Do the words around them render unnecessary?".