Metaphorical, but not vague. Verbs are the bringers of life. I must choose them with care. Continued use of passive verbs can suck the vitality from a narrative. The past has been established.
Continued repetition dulls the prose.
Other factors to analyze are consistency of tense, voice, mood, and tone. Several tenses can be used in a story, but a major stance is necessary from which to flash either backward or forward in time. A protagonist can speak from the past, present, or future, but the author usually chooses one main reference point. Voice is one of the strongest unifying factors in music and story. Mood, tone., atmosphere.