There are a lot of blog posts and websites out there by authors and editors on the easy and frequent errors that writers, both first-timers and veterans, make in their writing.
I’ve talked a little bit about character cliches on this blog, and I’ve hit on the adverbs thing as well (thanks to Stephen King, of course). But what about some of those errors that fly under the radar? How many superfluous thats and suddenlys does your manuscript have? How many hackneyed phrases–like “fly under the radar”–does it contain?
The reason I want to cover such errors is that, well, I commit them, or at least, I’m scared that I do, or will. So, while I hope this is helpful to other writers, I’m writing as much for myself as for all of you.
Jamie Chavez has a useful post about overused words and phrases that she catches while editing manuscripts: Words I Never Want to See in Your Novel. Please.
Check it out. It’s a good little list. Here’s a taste:
• May, when you mean might
When you are telling a story in the past tense, might is the word you should use. Trust me.
Ouch. I’ve done that. Sadly, it’s a little list; no doubt we could all add plenty to it. And that’s the problem: It’s so often hard to see your own errors (hence the need for a good editor, I’d say).
Want a cringe-inducing exercise? Open up your manuscript in Word (or whatever else it might be in). Do a few quick searches for words or phrases that you think you might have overused. What you’ll find is that if you think you overused them, it’s likely that you did. My chief sin: The phrase as if. No, it’s not on every page (or every five pages for that matter), but it appears quite a bit. When I get the manuscript back from formatting, and before I put it up on Amazon, I think it will serve me well to change a few (or a lot) of them.
Yes, it’s all frustrating, and I should know better. I was an editor for over five years (and I still do a little now as a freelancer). But still it happens.
Now, here’s the question: How many of these kinds of errors did I commit in this little blog post? I shudder to think about it.
And my last question: What are your oft-committed writing errors? Any overused words or phrases in your work? Share if you dare.
C.T.
Related articles
- Is Your Manuscript Ready? 10 Tips to Help Figure it Out (wordencounters.wordpress.com)
- Editing and the overuse of words – make each word count (fcmalby.wordpress.com)
- The Stages of Hating Your Manuscript (authoremmabarry.wordpress.com)
- Get Serious: Two Important Steps to Take after Finishing Your Manuscript. (sabrechronicles.wordpress.com)