Whether your characters are disgusted by rotten meat, a person who hasn’t bathed in months, or the results of an election; if you use the word disgusted too often, your writing will disgust readers.
This post should help you avoid the inescapable.
I wrote it in response to a request on Writers: Today It’s Your Turn to Grab the Steering Wheel.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Wise words, Ms. Mead.
If context doesn’t provide the answer, perhaps you need a better word than thoughtful. Or if your work in progress contains too many thoughtfuls, you might want to replace a few.
Are you looking for help? Read on …
It has been a busy summer for me, and the busyness will continue for a few more weeks.
I was delighted to host several family visits. Dog sitting and cat sitting filled me with laughter and joy. Several trips with family members to a hospital more than three hours away kept me on the road when I’d usually be writing. Oh, and I visited family on separate trips to the same city.
Wait, I’m not finished: I’ll be attending a graduation ceremony for a grandson who lives about nine hours away. Of course, it won’t be an in-and-out visit. I intend to stay for close to a week.
These nuisances are superfluous words or phrases also known as pleonasms. Rather than augment writing, they slow action scenes and increase word count — without adding constructive details.
This quiz, the fortieth in its series, offers ten sentences containing redundancies, and ten suggested solutions.
They are edited examples from books, news media, television shows, and overheard conversations.