1. TomBE

    TomBE New Member

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    Using the same words and phrases

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by TomBE, Feb 25, 2017.

    I've no doubt that everyone will suffer from this problem at some point, feeling that your vocabulary is too limited and/or phrases are being repeated too often. But I think when it isn't obvious whether or not this is a problem, it is hard to tell if it is you recycling phrases, so to speak, or rather just your writing style. As far as I know, there isn't an easy way to gauge how diverse what you have written is (let me know if there is).

    Getting a peer to read through and review what you have written can be useful also to find out not only if you are being repetitive, but also whether the language you have used fits together nicely but without regular access to friends/family etc, in what way do you find out how diverse your writing is? What is your "variety thermometer"?
     
  2. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    You can try reading it out loud. That often helps pick up on things you might gloss over if you're just reading in your mind.
     
  3. Elven Candy

    Elven Candy Pay no attention to the foot in my mouth Contributor

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    I don't really have a "variety thermometer." If a sentence or paragraph looks repetitive, I fix it. Otherwise, I don't worry about it. If my beta readers complain about my overuse of something, I'll look into fixing, but if I don't notice it and they don't notice it, why should I worry? I actually purposefully repeat things sometimes for emphasis; it's part of my writing style, but I only do it when it feels right, and if, months later, I reread it and it sounds awkward or repetitive, I take it out. If you're worried about overusing a specific word or phrase, you can use your writing program's (assuming it has one) search or find feature to look for that word or phrase. Then all you have to do is look at every instance you use it and see if you still like it being there.

    You're still working on your first draft, though, right? I wouldn't be concerned about it until you're nearing the final draft. So much will likely be reworded anyway the problem might work itself out.
     
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  4. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Yep, and if you're like me and can't be bothered, you can use this:

    http://www.fromtexttospeech.com
     
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  5. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I have a pretty good head for words and can sort of keep a database or recently-used words and phrases in mind as I write. But failing that, it's useful to just give it overnight or a couple days to get what you wanted to say out of your head and read what you actually said, and see if there's anything that needs to be worked out. Same as any kind of editing, really.
     
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  6. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    The more complex, obscure or long-winded the word or phrase the more likely it is to appear repetitive. A reader is unlikely to notice a glut of simple words like car, happy, green, teapot, etc.... But if you use soporific, indefatigable, consternation, proscenium and such too often they will leap off the page at the reader. Really even more than once is too much for a real banger of a word like that (though proscenium is cool as hell). The same goes for cliched phrases that people recognize. The real insidious repetition is redundant information, and this can metastasize throughout a manuscript. It starts with a beat or emotion that is repeated too often. Then two characters that fill the same role. And then two chapters that reflect the same sentiment. Before you know it you 50-60k words hammering the same three or four points. It's a huge deal if you let it metastasize (haha, see how I repeated that word there? It's like I just stuck my finger in your eye!). There are entire editing books based on the art of killing repetition. I've written things that looked like a tornado aftermath after I stripped the repetition. There was, quite literally, nothing left of the original structure except a few stones, shingles, and the corner of one wall. Very annoying.
     
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  7. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I remember Garrison Keillor telling about how, as a young newbie writer, he used to have his characters lean against something and light a cigarette every time there was a pause in the action. Very funny.
     
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  8. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

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    The key here is that some things repeated matter and some things don't. But telling which things do and don't is a matter for other readers mostly. Yes, you should try to avoid echoes. Yes, you should as best you can avoid it. But some words just flow so naturally to us personally that we don't even see them. I do it with 'just'; to the extent that reading plural times in a sentence scans fine to me. I only know to avoid it because people told me it's annoying. Also connecting rhetoircal phrases 'you know?' and 'I mean' particularly. Worse still I have a really finely calibrated repetition meter with other peoples work and I loathe even innocuous words being repeated particularly dialogue with lots of 'said' in it. All you can do with your own work is get other people to look at it, at least the passages that concern you. See if they notice and if they notice if they care.
     
  9. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I like unique details. And angling things in a way that makes the image and the theme beyond the image, fresh. In my WIP my mc, a fourteen year old boy, compares his first vacation to Nevada to the toys of his youth. That he's upgraded Play Doh fun food and Lite Brite landscapes etc making the image both fun and surreal. I also try to avoid repetition by keeping things concrete. If I'm vague about something I'll usually have to mention it again to make sure the reader gets it. But if I'm concrete about something then I can just build the scene from it. I've got forward momentum. I also find repetition comes in when my characters are just standing around talking. But this can be purely personal on my part. I'm not crazy about long swatches of dialogue.
     
  10. mrieder79

    mrieder79 Probably not a ground squirrel Contributor

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    I always always always read my writing aloud. Its a great way to shake the klunk out of your sentences. Catches lots of grammar mistakes too.
     

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