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Habit words. That’s what I call them. Some editors lump them into the repetitive word category. Others include them in articles about adjectives and adverbs. I’ve dubbed them habit words because they flow into our writing in the same way they clutter up our speech. The little devils were probably hardwired into our brains when we were born.
Knowing that, let’s accept the truth. Our early drafts will be littered with these throwaways. Our brains think the words belong. We might not see them, no matter how many times we go through our manuscripts. Knowing that, how do we identify them, and how do we eliminate them?
1. Enlist the help of your critique group members, your first reader, or, if necessary, an experienced editor or proofreader. Once you’ve identified your habit words, keep a running list. You might occasionally find you’ve adopted a new one, but you’ll rarely stop using the old ones.
2. After your big story revisions are complete, and you’re ready to fine-tune your manuscript, open your manuscript file(s). If you have older versions of Microsoft Word:
Click on Edit
Click on Find
In the Find and Replace box that pops up, type your habit word
Click on Find Next
Case by case, decide whether to leave the word or delete it (or even rewrite the sentence).
Repeat the process for each word on your list. In newer versions of Word, the information will show up in a left sidebar which is easier to navigate and review item by item.
3. Since many of us have the same habit words, here are those I find most often in my own work and in the manuscripts I critique:
just, really, pretty, some, actually, so, well, back, up, oh, off, somehow, like, very, many, that, finally, real, rather, anyway (also smiled and shrugged).
All of these words are good words in the right places. When unconsciously sprinkled throughout our stories, however, they tell the agent or editor we’re not self-editing as thoroughly as we should.
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Just is definitely at the top of my list and after that, surely. I’m getting better at not using them in the first but I still find them.
I suspect just is on everyone’s list. We just can’t avoid sprinkling the word throughout the pages of a just about every story we write.
Yep, Patricia found mine. Some. Once it’s pointed out, you want to slap your forehead every time you see it again. But Find Edit will help axe them.
It’s funny to read manuscripts and identify the repetitions because we usually have words in common (like “some”) and a bunch of personal favorites. I picked on “shrugged” but any word can start popping up everywhere, or get repeated frequently on one page and then disappear. They’re much easier to see when we read another writer’s work than when we review our own,
Your list reminds me of the Rainbow Edits I used to get from Jen Wylie when we were with Echelon. I need to do this! Thanks!
It’s a fun exercise, Marian, but it can be tedious if you have as many habit words as I do.
Oh, my gosh, Pat, that’s something we never think about – until we think about it! Sometimes when I write, I catch myself overusing a word. But not always! That’s where my beta readers are so helpful to me. It’s surprising how unaware we can really be of the words we ourselves have written….
I belong to a critique group and we’re always catching each other on word repetitions. Everyone does it, and it’s very helpful to find them all before a publisher’s editor gets to review the manuscript. It was my editor at Five Star who asked, “When did you start having all your characters shrug so often?” I missed it, my group missed it, and my poor characters were shrugging so often their shoulders were probably sore.