Seek and Destroy Repeated Words in your Manuscript

by Jeannie Ruesch

If you’re like me, there are a few (okay, more than a few) go-to words that you’ll find all through your manuscript pages.  Sometimes, twice in a page. Okay, three times…

Knowing that we all have our “crunch” words, as part of my WIP Notebook, I created a page of Vocabulary & Repeated Words.  You likely have your own words to add to this, but here’s my beginning list for you to seek and destroy.   Building a list of too-oft used words will help you with your edits at the end of the first draft.  This is one of the steps I take in my Edits process.  I find in my first draft, I’ll put in a word like this to keep me moving forward – but there is always a better way to say it.

Here’s my opening list:

  • Actually
  • Again
  • Almost
  • As
  • back
  • believed
  • certainly
  • consider
  • expression
  • eyes
  • eyebrows
  • face
  • fairly
  • gaze
  • glance
  • hesitate
  • just
  • little
  • look
  • more
  • now
  • pause
  • practically
  • pretty
  • probably
  • quickly
  • quite
  • rather
  • really
  • regardless
  • seems
  • sigh
  • surprise
  • time
  • that
  • thing
  • thought
  • though
  • very
  • way

Feel to free to add your own words in the comments.  What do you usually find you repeat way too often? Words? Phrases?

Featured photo by Free-Photos on Pixabay

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