Overused Words – FF025

Beginning writers often make the mistake of overusing certain words or phrases publishers no longer wish to see in the books they buy. These words and phrases are usually unnecessary and by eliminating them, the author tightens their writing.

In this Fiction Fundamental, I’ll talk about:

• How to determine if a word is unnecessary.
• Cliches and trite phrases
• Using exciting, new words
• The consequences of trying to avoid “look”
• How often to use a character’s name and their pronouns
• Beginning consecutive sentences with a conjunction
• What is “Dick and Jane syndrome?”
• Repeating phrases for effect
• Adverbs ending in -ly and participles and gerunds ending in -ing
• The dreaded “was”
• A list of fifty-eight overused words to watch out for