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Which words do YOU overuse in your writing?
Mine are:
really
very
quite
just
- the usual sins! I am aware of the problem but just can't quite seem to stop myself and I really don't know the answer and I find it very annoying!
Also, when I'm in the zone and the writing is flowing, my spelling goes completely to mush. It's not a big problem as spelling is one of my strong points and can be corrected when I'm in my calm (!) editing mode but does this happen to anyone else?
Comments
THAT
thank you very much
HAD
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I agree with you about the over use of was. An author billed as a No. 1 Bestselling Writer used the word eight times, in a 110 word paragraph, in one of his/her recent novels.
I WAS not impressed.
I WAS not impressed[/quote]
Then said writer doesn't deserve the honour of 'No 1 Bestselling Writer.' Not if he or she makes schoolboy errors like that.
The, creeps in silently.
Was, requires more work and I need to get stricter with it somehow.
It's true - I always think RED when I use the word 'was'. Sometimes it's essential but hell, since becoming a co-editor at Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers it's become one of the 'killers' that makes me reject a story - slows it down no end.
My personal failure is 'just'.
I agree that's a tricky one.
I had to do a search on the word 'call' for a particular editing purpose and I discovered that my characters spend an enormous amount of time on their mobiles. It's surprising they get anything else done, tbh. Ho hum.
[quote=Webbo] I'm lobbying for "No 1 well-selling author" [/quote] Love that. :) I suppose what they MEANT to say was "No 1. author of best-sellers."
And there's the nitty gritty, if you can express exactly what you want to say in accurate and brilliant language, as in
"The robot bulked dimly in the night, its eyes a dull red glow." (Isaac Asimov, The Naked Sun)
then you too, can be a [quote=Red]No. 1 Bestselling Writer[/quote]
I know it's said to be a cop-out and I should use either a comma or a full stop but there are times when only a semi colon will do. A hyphen just doesn't do the job.
Any advice?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revision-Self-Editing-Techniques-Transforming-Finished/dp/1582975086
If you haven't got the budget to buy it, you could see if your local library can get it for you.
He says, the ; is used to connect two associated sentences and gives the writer an alternative to always using a full stop, so if for example you have a string of short sentences, which can sound very staccato, you can vary the pace of your writing. Let's think of an example.
I checked the weather report. It forecast rain. I took my umbrella.
I checked the weather report; it forecast rain, so I took my umbrella.
I hope that is a good example. Other people on the forum are better grammarians than I am.
I won that book last year. Can't remember what I did, but it was for a piece of fiction. I don't write fiction usually but it was worth the effort. That book is the best I've read on writing - not that I've read that many. It's clear, doesn't patronise and is written by a successful writer.