Say it again ... or not
Karen M. Smith
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Every writer has his or her own favorite words that he or she unconsciously uses ad nauesum. Being an author myself, the editor I use to edit my manuscripts does a great job of pointing them out.
Strangely enough, the overused words change with each manuscript.
In the latest book, Single Stroke (due for release on December 15, 2023), that word was blink. Pehaps because my editor points this flaw out in my work, I pick up on it in the manuscripts I edit for clients. Such overused words and phrases include:
Sometimes the word only seems to be overused. For instance, in a 40,000-plus-word manuscript, hearty was used five times. However, that was frequent enough to trigger the warning bells: "This is used too often. Stop it!" In another manuscript of fewer than 20,000 words, "warm tears" was used twice as often, making me cringe.
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What sounds natural when we're writing becomes repetitive to the reader. This is one more reason a human editor benefits a manuscript. Although the manuscript may have hundreds or even thousands of repeated words (a, the, and, that, etc.), the human brain tends to focus on a particular use or overuse that begins to trigger a negative reaction. Editing software can only tell the writer how many times a word is used; it cannot tell the writer whether the word is actually overused.
Sprinkling words like salt makes it all too easy for a writer to over-season the story; however, unlike salt, it's simple enough for a writer to review the mansucript and correct overuse of a particular word or phrase. In some cases, correction may involve substituting the offending word or prhase with something else with the same or similar meaning. A thesaurus comes in handy here. Sometimes, correction simply means deleting unnecessary uses of that word or phrase. That happens a lot with the word that. And other times, correction involves more extensive rewriting, particularly with words evoking emotion and physical reactions to emotion.
Repetition may be justified, especially when it's used for emphasis; however, it must be employed sparingly to remain effective. Monotony isn't good for any story.
#writingtips #storytelling #vocabulary #henhousepublishing #editingservices
Author
1yOn a similar vein it is difficult to avoid using a character's name because s/he can also become overused but PLEASE - don't start every paragraph with your protagonist's name as I discovered on plucking a self-published book off a library shelf. Two pages of seeing 'Jack' start every paragraph had me hastily returning it to the shelf.
Chronically ill, Christian, Freelance Writer/ Journalist/Poet/ Creative Kindness Leader
1ySometimes the repetition is intentional though. And sometimes a different word doesn’t convey the same meaning.
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1yI love this and add that when the word is unusual in everyday speech, it takes far fewer instances of the word's appearance to annoy the reader. For example, one manuscript I edited some time back used the word "pedestrian" a number of times, and because the word is atypical in informal conversation, use of the word began to read as though the author was lacking inspiration when crafting descriptions.
Fiction for a Better Tomorrow § Futures § Writing § Tech § Always Learning
1yIt is certainly an important distinction to be made. Done with intention it ties the story together, done unconsciously it can kick the read out of the story.