Bad Paragraph: The jumping Kangaroo was running fast past the slow tortoise while the hot brush fire was pushing up against the animals, and it was driving them out of their homes. The bright lightening had begun the fire when the quick lightening hit the dry brush. The fire was spreading. Flames were sending smoke into the air.

Bad Paragraph Edited: This paragraph has too many "to be" verbs. Several descriptions are obvious: Kangaroos generally jump, tortoises are almost always slow, lightening is always bright, flames always send smoke into the air. The writing could improve by replacing the to be verbs with more active and specific verbs. The paragraph could also benefit from stating less of the obvious.

Better Paragraph: The tortoise stared at the kangaroo as it sped past him into the shadows. Lightening had ignited the brush several hours earlier causing animals to flee to safety. The brush exploded like a tinder box under a match and the flames spread like water from a broken dam. Precipitation had always been scarce, but this year's rainfall record didn't even have one drop to add to its ledger book.

While this paragraph isn't picture perfect, it improves on the first paragraph by implementing the editing suggestions.