Overused Words

[Robinne Weiss]

I'm in the middle of my first editing pass of a novel at the moment. One of the things I do in this pass (really, several passes) is check on words I know I overuse--just and though are my big problem words. In my first draft, I don't worry much about word choice--I get the story down however it comes out. But, knowing that I overuse these words and will have to go back and remove them, I have made more effort to use alternate words in the first draft.

Habits die hard, apparently. I thought I'd done so well, and then I searched for the offending words and found my MS riddled with them. Maybe someday I'll write beautifully balanced first drafts, with perfect word choice throughout...but it's unlikely. I'm thankful for the editors who have pointed out my overused words, and I'm sure if I ever eliminate just and though they'll find other words in need of pruning.

What are your overused words? Do you have strategies for curbing your use of them?

 

[Boopadoo]

I do the same thing, using "Find" track down and rewrite the offenders. For me, also just, plus was and that.

 

[Carol Rose]

I have a long list I check for. Not only are some of these overused words for me, but they're also filter words. Words that create distance between the reader and the character. Not saying they should *never* be used, but I go over each chapter to make sure there is a need for the word in context, or if there's a better way to write what I'm trying to convey.

See
Saw
Hear
Think
Wonder
Make (s)
Cause
Because
Realize
Look
Watch
Seems/Seems Like
Feel (s)/ Feels Like
Can
Decide
Sound/Sounds Like
Know

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Editing a manuscript for overused words is one of the most tiresome chores of writing. It's enough to make me doubt my sanity, especially when I find that I've used the word 'had' nine times in a short five sentenced paragraph!

It's also an area of the process of writing that continues to cause me a lot of internal debate. I found that I was wasting a lot of time, and being rather precious, by forcing myself to find a different word. Sometimes, using the same noun or verb can add to the impact of what you're trying to say. In my chosen crime genre, there are only a limited number of ways of saying that someone's been murdered, so some words occur repeatedly. Once I've said murder and kill, I get into legal distinctions with manslaughter and aggravated homicide, even emotive with descriptors such as slaughter and carnage, but once I stray into penning expressions like murder most foul, there's villainy afoot and launch into eternity then it's time to put on my deerstalker hat and frock coat and to look for where I put my drugs with my trusty magnifying glass!

A key issue when deciding which word to use, is who is saying it? Hopefully, your characters don't all talk exactly like you....

 

[Geoff]

With me words frequently found, and purged, in my scribbles are:

So, Actually, Look, Seriously, Although and of course that old perennial That.

 

[MaryA]

Perhaps.

She thought that perhaps Rita should say something
He would help out, perhaps
Perhaps you need to reconsider?

Almost

She almost turned back
The supper was almost ready
We almost made it

And then I hit scores of not just, that, simply, unexpectedly, almost certainly.

Give me strength.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Just.

Gaaaah

I go on 'just' hunts. But it does get used a lot in real life dialogue.

 

[Carol Rose]

I agree with @Paul Whybrow in that there are times you say the same thing, or repeat the same word, for emphasis or style. It's all in the context. And, when you're writing in past tense, you're going to use "had" "was" etc. There simply aren't any other ways to narrate actions without using past tense verbs. But again, it's all in the context.

This is where varying your sentence structure can assist. Combining action and dialogue, for example, can space out the "She had done this" and "He was doing that" types of sentences, and not make those words pop out quite so much within a short space.

The thing is, don't stress over this to the fact it's a chore and you don't even want to do it. It's part of self-editing. But if you write with the words in mind that you are most likely to overuse, in time you'll find you stop using them as often. Honestly. This does work.

When I self-edit, I do it chapter by chapter as I write. I use the "Advanced Find" feature in Word to look for words and phrases I know are issues for me. This way, I'm not overburdening myself with going through multiple chapters, or heaven help me the entire manuscript, looking for a long list of words.

Actually, you all don't even want to see my ENTIRE self-editing checklist. LOL!! But I know my strengths and weaknesses in my writing, and these are things I'm working hard to improve. So I simply buckle down at the end of each chapter or two and go through it with the list in front of me, before I move on.

The other choice is, of course, to pay an editor to do all this for you. But if you do, you never really learn this necessary part of the craft on your own. You don't learn to write with this in mind until it becomes so intuitive you no longer need to check for it. And that *can* happen. Trust me on this one. My self-editing list no longer contains multiple items because those things are now intuitive. I no longer need to check for them because I don't do them anymore while I write.

One more thing I wanted to add. I do *not* worry about these types of words or phrases in dialogue. I let the repeated words, overused words, filter words fly, if that's the way my character speaks.

 

[Geoff]

It could be beneficial if someone invented an App to scan a document and total up the number times all words are used, eliminating words like 'a' and 'the'. Unless something already exists apart from Find? But, there again, as Carol has mentioned , it's part of the writer's craft.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

It could be beneficial if someone invented an App to scan a document and total up the number times all words are used, eliminating words like 'a' and 'the'. Unless something already exists apart from Find? But, there again, as Carol has mentioned , it's part of the writer's craft.

Scrivener does this--there's a little 'word frequency' window you can pull up. It's quite useful for finding new and exciting overused words you didn't know about.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

And I agree with Carol about dialogue. People say 'just' a lot in dialogue, and I use a lot of dialogue. An edited MS of mine still has a lot of 'justs' in it, but hopefully they all feel right, rather than repetitive.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

There's a slippery tightrope to walk when writing dialogue, for we want to make our characters' speech sound realistic while imparting any crucial information relevant to the storyline, but we're constrained by the word count.

In real life, people use filler words a lot more than authors have space to include, but we're compromised by the need to move the story forward. Also, when we're talking face-to-face, especially in a group situation, there are interjections—grunts of 'mmm' and 'yeah' —indicating that people are following the meaning of what's being said. It's difficult to write that, without making the listeners sound moronic, so we tend to make them do something instead, like have a sip of coffee.

When people actually engage in conversation, much of what they say is small talk, irrelevant fluffy chatter that acts as a lubricant for the relationship they have with who they're addressing.

I've seen studies by linguists that reckon 80% of what's said is largely meaningless. But, think how alarming it would be to be around someone who was silent most of the time, but who made deadly accurate and truthful statements when they did speak!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

It would be terrifying They wouldn't be a normal human being. The linguists are missing the point.

 

[Geoff]

Interesting, but it rather depends on the context of the conversation, I would have thought. In moments of blooming love, for example, people sometimes sound as though they are talking drivel, but to the recipient the words are almost magical. One person's nonsense may be another person's wisdom. Edward Lear also made a career out of it.
Or am I just taking nonsense

 

[Island Writer]

There are a number of programs out there that can help with overused words: autocrit, prowritingaid being two of them. As with any computer program, each instance needs to be looked at to ensure the change is relevant.

 

[Luciferette]

Mine is "but" (sadly not "butt"). I think it's probably because of the effort to create conflict, but (!) there's only so many times you can use it, along with "however" and "although". It drives me mad, as I know I'm doing it. I need a But Butler to come and take them all out.

 

[MaryA]

And I often find that 'but' in the middle of my sentences undoes what I've just asserted which is fine if that is the intention. Otherwise not.

She dressed smartly for the interview but a thread came loose at her hem and she stupidly tugged at it.

He had a kind smile, avuncular you might say, but when he wasn't smiling his face looked pinched and mean.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

I start too many sentences with And. But (and there's another one I have to watch out for) I've learned to catch it as I do it. 'Just' is just lethal. I use it far too much. Even when I've cut it out, I still do a Find and find the sneaky wee buggers have gone forth and multiplied. Looked and looking. Realised. All those distance words. Ach! Still, editing is good for the soul

 

[Katie-Ellen]

And I often find that 'but' in the middle of my sentences undoes what I've just asserted which is fine if that is the intention. Otherwise not.

She dressed smartly for the interview but a thread came loose at her hem and she stupidly tugged at it.

He had a kind smile, avuncular you might say, but when he wasn't smiling his face looked pinched and mean.

I had a friend who dressed smartly for a job interview; a beautiful frilled white shirt. Took her ages to iron. They kept her waiting and she got nervous, popped in a toffee and started chewing. Yep, you guessed it. That's when they came for her. No time to finish chewing. She pushed the toffee into her cheek, and got away with it till they asked her a question, and she opened her mouth to answer, and the saliva had built up and she gushed brown drool all down the frill.

 

[MaryA]

Love that story @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine ! The kind of thing that would happen to me.

 

[Andrew Okey]

I think its unavoidable (at first draft) to subconsciously pepper your MS with certain words that are either just "your" words, or which have a particular resonance in the context of the stuff you're writing - in my case, my first attempt at a novel (set in post-war Europe) revealed my strong tendency to user-use the word "ruined" (four times in two paragraphs, in the most spectacular instance). I found that at second draft / edit for language stage, reading my stuff aloud to myself (or, even better, to my long-suffering wife) quickly revealed the over-used words, which I then hunted down and fixed.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Yep, nothing like reading aloud to find those overused words.

 

[MaryA]

Or handing the drafts to your nearest and dearest and watching their eyes glaze over as they run into all those fronted adverbials.