It Seems Just A Bit Of So-Called Bad Habits. Ow.

Jan 26, 2009

Like many writers, I don’t edit while I’m composing. Seems natural enough, but it’s tempting, especially when I notice one of my bad habits. I have many, and I give myself points for understanding that. (These points are redeemable for chocolate.)

Instead of editing as I go, if I notice a problem or something that felt awkward as I was typing it, I put a [##] mark in the text. Then when I’m finished with the piece, it’s easy to find the bits that gave me a headache. Sometimes I’ll include a note, such as: [## - make sure his eyes have always been green].

But an even more prevelant problemfor me is repeated words. I don’t catch them all, and thank goodness for one particularly kind editor who is a gunslinger for repetition and cliche.

The worst?

A bit. “He’s a bit cold.” Uck.   Why not just be cold?

Felt. “Franz felt the time was right.”  No.  Either the time was right or it wasn’t.  Who cares what Franz thought!

A moment. “She paused for a moment.”  Duh.

So-called. I’m not even going to do this.  I should be banned from using this expression ever again.

Just. This is a sneaky one.  “She went just far enough…”  Sneaky because if you weren’t looking for it, you might not see it.  I was horrified at how many justs had snuck into my last manuscript!

Seem. “He seemed to be waiting.”  Often “seem” is a cover for “to be”.  (As in “he seemed cold” instead of “he was cold”.)  Here it’s worse, as I’ve used them both!  Eeek!  It’s better to say “He waited”, but it’s still not descriptive.  I’d change this to show him looking at his watch or something more specific to show why it seemed that way… if I don’t want to be as direct as “he waited”.

Other horrors: the number of times my characters have been “making their way” or “heading” somewhere. (Probably because I didn’t want to overuse “went”.  But eesh.  Sometimes simpler is better.) The frequency with which my characters “realize” things.  “Trudy realized she could go no further.”  My characters had an alarming number of these annoying and flabby epiphanies.  Out out out with realizations!

I hope being exposed to and laughing at my awful and repeated mistakes will remind all of us that it’s not enough to spell-check!  Read aloud or have others read a manuscript to keep an eye out for pesky habits that have become invisible over time.