From the Mailbox
November 23rd, 2009 by Kathleen Bolton
This post is a real drive-by as I am working on something epic, the news of which I hope to share with you all soon, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share something a writer friend of mine e-mailed to me. Am I the only one who hasn’t discovered the awesomeness of Kim Blank’s Wordiness website? Wordaholics and fans of stripped writing must check it out:
You can get a good start by avoiding “there is/are/was/were,” “it is/was,” “that is/are/were,” and “which is/are.” You can also try to dump what I call “wazzle” (waffling and fuzzy) words, like “actually,” “aspects,” “basically,” “definitely,” “quite,” “really,” “situation,” “truly,” “ultimately,” and “very. ”
Actually, theseare basicallyfruity habits, and theycantrulygoin most situations. “Could,” “should,” and “would” are also famous wazzlers (in case you missed it, these strike-outs illustrate words that can be deleted from the sentence without reducing the meaning: “these fruity habits can go”).
I was in heaven going through her list of deletable words. The list is long. Very long. I know many of us are up to our eyeballs in NaNo right now where extra words are a bonus, not a hindrance, but come Dec. 1 when we have to edit that bad boy, Kim Blanks list of unessential words will be a godsend.
Here’s my pet peeve: in actuality, and she agrees, delete that sucker, it serves no purpose. True facts = facts (unless you’re texting a teenager, then it becomes trufax). By and large is also a teeth-grinder for me.
What are some of your wordiness pet peeves?
Good luck to the NaNoWriMo warriors. We’re in the home stretch now!
I’m a fan of culling out all that stuff, but I also think there are times when some of those might have a place. When I’m writing dialogue, the choice of words we use to portray our characters and give them their voice may very well include those verboten words. Also, while it is important to strive to rid our writing of overuse of these words, it is also okay to strike a balance. When I try to eliminate them altogether, some of the results are clunky.
Jonathan´s last blog ..Writing Magic in Fantasy Fiction
Ditto what Jonathan said. I think rules like that (“strike these words!”) are helpful because most people OVER-use them, but in reality they don’t ALL have to go.
Personally the word I have to strike the most is “just”. I don’t know why I use it so much!
Kristan´s last blog ..Lamest post of lameness ever
Kristan stole my favorite: just. I tend to overuse that in first drafts and it’s likely the number one word I strike on a second draft. Actually, definitely, and quite are a few others I struggle with. I also overdo the phrase “a bit.” That’s my dialect coming through my fingertips.
The number one thing I notice while doing critiques is that new writers like to point out the obvious. The sun is hot. Ice is cold. A frown is sad. A smile is joyful. Not always that blatant, but you get the idea.
A friend of mine says she sometimes forgets to hang up her “Captain Obvious” cape before she sits down to write. And I’ll admit I’ve inadvertently borrowed her cape on more than one occasion. It’s a one size fits all.
Lydia Sharp´s last blog ..Antagonist Tips: Creating a Character We Love to Hate
Kathleen, Thanks for the reminder. I’ll add this to my list of words to amputate as I edit my magnum opus.
Kristan, Could you and I have been separated at birth? I, too, overuse “just.” I just can’t help it.
My “just” is “really”. As in I really use really too much. Why can’t I stop?
‘but’ is one. so indecisive..so libran…
that
really
to be honest
So…
Dewazzling always makes me feel better. :-)
Jewel/Pink Ink´s last blog ..Keeping The Faith
This is so timely because I’m trying to cut words out of my manuscript. This week I cut over 3000 words. Some I found are:
starting to do something instead of doing it.
just
turning to _______
was running instead of ran
point in time. “At this point in time…” should be “At this time…” Or, simply “Now…”
Thank you for a virtual smorgasbord of absolutely delightful and completely unnecessary list of words and phrases I can’t wait to sink my teeth into.
June
June´s last blog ..Lessons for Writers from New Moon, the movie