Seek out all "to be" verbs in your written work. These are sentences that contain any verb form of the infinitive "to be." List them in bullet format in a separate word processing document.
Find the verb phrase in the first sentence. For example, "Linny is happy because she hit a home run." "Is" is the linking verb. The verb phrase is "is happy."
Delete the verb phrase. You are left with the sentence, "Linny because she hit a home run." Obviously, this makes little sense, so you will have to figure out how to make it make sense. In this case, removing the word "because" works.
Reread your sentence. "Linny hit a home run." This sentence conveys what Linny did but does not convey her mood. Moods are more concisely conveyed by using an adverb. For example, "Linny happily hit a home run." You now have a more concise and better sounding sentence, simply by eliminating the linking "to be" verb.
Repeat steps two through four for each sentence you have listed.
Find the rest of your sentences that contain linking verbs. List them in a separate word processing document.
Test each identified linking verb by replacing the suspected linking verb with the word "is." For instance, "George tasted the stew." "George IS the stew," does not make sense. "George turned green." George IS green," makes sense. Therefore, the second sentence contains a linking verb, while the first does not.
Combine any sentences you can to erase linking verbs. For instance, "George tasted the stew. George turned green." Your writing flows better when you combine the ideas presented in the sentences and get rid of the linking verb: "The stew caused George's illness."
Repeat steps two and three for each sentence in your list.