This essay by Chuck Palahniuk is truly one of the greatest pieces of advice I have ever come across in story telling: https://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-%E2%80%9Cthought%E2%80%9D-verbs

I’ve tried the challenge of eliminating thought verbs and what a difference it made. I’ll post a sample here as soon as can get over the risking public exposure hump.

There’s a rabbit hole here: https://litreactor.com/essays/36-writing-essays-by-chuck-palahniuk