Welcome back from vacation, everyone, and a merry December to ya. I hope the break was fun and restful, full of good food and time with family and friends. Perhaps even some good writing done?
I’m a few scenes into the newest work, which I am enjoying so far. Still in the honeymoon phase with it, even if it took a while to get engaged. Revising two of my other stories based on a ton of feedback I’ve gotten over the past month, mostly from OWW. Have a few queries out, some partials, and a short story that has been in review at a magazine for, oh, seven months now? Anyways, life goes on, and so do the stories. How are things on your end?
Since revision is a big thing with me now, let’s take a look at this article, which details Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But can easily fix when they do).
Good material here. I already have figured out a couple things I tend to do. Like:
REPEATS
Just about every writer unconsciously leans on a “crutch” word
Just about every writer unconsciously leans on a “crutch” word
I have wibble-wobble words. Like “something,” “absolutely,” “just about.” Ones that I think emphasize a point or image I need to make, but in fact weaken it.
EMPTY ADVERBS
Another big one for me, and a lot of learning writers. We try to spruce up sentences with pretty descriptives, but in reality, we’re padding the environment unnecessarily.
THE “TO BE” WORDSOnce your eye is attuned to the frequent use of the “to be” words – “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” “be,” “being,” “been” and others – you’ll be appalled at how quickly they flatten prose and slow your pace to a crawl.
And yet another I’ve had to look for often enough. It helps though to go back during revisions and see which instances I can replace with more interesting, active verbs, rather than the usual passive and present “to be”s.
What are some areas you see yourself struggling on or improving in?
I see that smile.