Writers, we are all guilty of using particular words or phrases far too frequently!!
I was recently reading a delightful series by an author but it was very distracting when she used the same phrase over and over.
“Custom glass workroom”. The shop where the story takes place is just four rooms so it is my opinion that:
1] the author needed to change it up; There is an office, a retail room, a classroom and a custom workshop. Just a little chance would make all the difference. For example: ‘the workroom’ and ‘the workshop’ and ‘the specialty glass room’.
2]readers are smart and we should never underestimate their ability to follow along. If they can’t then we, as the writers, have failed at our job.
3] If we miss our idiosyncrasies, and we all have them, then the editor, beta reader, proofreader, etc., should catch it.
My most common ones are the words, ‘just’ and ‘that’. My watchdog, first defense, is to use Word’s ‘find’. Then I review the manuscript looking for when I overuse the words and why.
“There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily.” Anthony Trollope
“All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.” P.D. James
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On the home page, enter your email address. Watch for more interviews with authors. March-Apr: Joshua Hood, author of ROBERT LUDLUM’S THE TREADSTONE RENDITION April: Author, H.W. ‘Buzz’ Bernard. May: Victoria Costello. June: Laila IbrahimA few BOOKS BY TRISHA SUGAREK
