Which brings me to my topic. Overused words. One of mine, as it turns out, is "now."
Seems innocuous, right? But somehow I used it more than 300 times in 300 pages, and that doesn't include the other 100 times it appeared as part of the word "know".... so yeah, you can't just "find/replace" for trigger words, you need to page through each one to see how it fits into your sentence.
Another oldie but goodie is of course the ubiquitous "that" (more than 800 times) and "just" (283, give or take)... my list goes on.
Why am I talking about this today? It would sound more like a "me" problem than a general "writer" problem, right? Wrong. Each and every author has their go-to words that slip into their writing almost unbeknownst to them. Do you think I realized all my characters were being so whiny and living in the "now" so much they needed to whine about it once a page? Um, no.
The problem is, these "extra" words, these "crutch" words that we use without thinking about it slow the flow. Our brains may slide right over them, but another reader will stumble... and perhaps fall right off the page, as in, close the book and move on to the next one on their reading list.
Even before you send that manuscript to your editor, you should do a bit of self-checking. Start with "that." Unless you've done this search before, or you're a perfect writer, I'll bet you have no idea how many times you've already used it in your current WIP. Depending on your topic or genre, I'm sure there are plenty of other trigger words you can search for too. Like me with the word " Just" - I simply removed more than 200 of them without having to reword a thing about those sentences. And you know what? The sentences all read better now. Smoother.
That little binocular icon on your Word program is really useful for this, but don't fall into the trap of Find/Replace All. Things are never quite that easy.
Now share. Tell us what some of your crutch words are - and/or share a Find/Replace uh-oh moment.
Even you NaNo-ers are allowed to comment, since you're already here and procrastinating.
Happy Writing (and self-editing) to all!!
excellent advice. as always!!
ReplyDeleteSHouldn't you be NaNo writing, Peggy? Hands on keyboard, lady!
Delete(thanks for stopping by!)
Binoculars feature on. Check.
ReplyDeleteALways a good start :-)
DeleteAlways good to keep this in mind. Once story I overused the word pursed. I never noticed until my editor pointed it out to me.
ReplyDeleteIn my first manuscript, everyone always nodded. My editor kindly noted that my characters all seemed like bobbleheads, always nodding. I try to be conscious of giving them stronger necks now.
DeleteAnd there's that "now" word again. Jeez....
I have a list of those words that I run through before I submit any manuscript. Kills me every time!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I've heard a lot of authors do that with their own "favorite" crutch words - a sticky note somewhere to remind them to search those particular words. Thanks for sharing that tidbit!
DeleteKatie, I use that, so, then, way too much. Probably there are others, too, but I know I overuse those.
ReplyDeleteThanks for chiming in, Hebby. (now I need to do a search for so...) (and there's that "now" again. can't get away from it.)
DeleteHappy Writing!
Going to... smile... feel/felt... think/thought... Well I have a list somewhere, with about 20 words on it, but I won't take time to look because I'm writing, not editing. Checking for these words comes at the end. What's the binoculars feature?
ReplyDeleteJudy Meadows
It's not a binoculars "feature" per se, it's the icon on your Word toolbar that looks like a pair of binoculars. It's the find/replace tool in your edits box (also control F, if you prefer F keys)- you click the binoculars and the sidebar pops up on the left side of your page (at least on mine it does) - it's also where the headings are, if you use the style feature on your toolbar to format the chapter headings so you can click through the doc faster (not scroll the whole doc.)
DeleteHappy Writing, Judy!
I love your Wednesday posts Katie! So helpful. There's one of mine: "so." I also tend to use "just" as well. I'm now a lunatic with "that" and I always check for it. I tend to use a few to describe my heroes--smoking hot, rock hard abs, gorgeous...fun to find replacements there. Time to NaNo...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Claire! I know these posts aren't revolutionary for most, but I love it when you all chime in with your comments and experiences with the same/similar issues that I'm ranting about - it helps me feel like I'm not alone with these problems, they're things that we all struggle with.
DeleteBest of luck with your NaNo project!
Another issue--I've heard over and over that you shouldn't have many exclamation points in an entire book. Like 10 max. I started to read a book the other day that's receiving all kinds of acclaim from places like Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly and I couldn't get through the first two chapters because almost every sentence ended with !!!! It drove me insane!!!! I search for those too. Rant over.
ReplyDeleteClaire, I so totally agree. I've put down books with those multiple exclamation marks, and maybe I'm showing my age, but why? why is it necessary to emphasize the point? It always seems to me if the author felt that strongly, she/he should've found stronger words to express the idea.
DeleteI was told early on that you should only have a max of 2 semi-colons in a work of fiction as well. I have no idea why, but that comment stuck with me too. Like there's a playbook for how many of each punctuation mark you should optimally use, lol. (but no, I don't go over the limit, just in case.)
"That" and "just" are biggies for me. I tend to have to remove a lot during edits. This year, I'm not editing them out until AFTER NaNo!! LOL
ReplyDelete