We all have our bad habits when it comes to our own writing (I'm a comma-phobic). But a bad habit that a lot of us suffer from, at least in our early drafts, is the unnecessary words. Our writing may be lazy because of these words.
Here are some examples:
Just very
Nearly almost
'ly' words
Thing/Stuff
Anyway/Because
any word you overuse
Now, of course, there are always exceptions. The word you chose might be the just fine and there's no need to change it. But when you're revising make sure you always select the strongest word possible.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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3 comments:
I was devastated the day I realized how often I use the word "apparently" (in real life as well as in writing), but it was also a big breakthrough because I could focus on limiting my usage. Of course, I've probably replaced it with something equally problematic... :)
Elizabeth - It's always great when you find those breakthrough moments. I know a word I tend to overuse in my writing is 'really'. Even though I try to turn off my inner editor when I'm doing a first draft, if I catch myself typing that word, I'll stop and try to remove it.
I overuse "really" too. Another one of mine is "seem". If something seems like something else to a character, then just say it. "The couch seemed to have seen many better days" can just be "The couch had seen many better days."
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