Bad Writing Habits and How to Break Them
By Anna Elliott | May 4, 2017 |
My Short Pencil Collection, by Hugo Cardoso at Flickr
I took another look, and probably 90 percent of those nods were entirely unnecessary, too. I cut them— thank goodness the book hadn’t been published yet— but it was an eye-opening experience, and one that reminded me that even 20+ books into my career as an author, I still have bad writing habits that I need to watch out for.
So what to do? The first line of defense against bad habits, of course, is to be aware of them. Nodding isn’t the only word I’ve been known to over-use. I’ve also caught myself using the word ‘blink’ so often to express mild surprise that you start to imagine my characters seeing in strobe-lighting effect. I’m much more aware of those things now— while writing my most recent books, I generally caught myself and hit the backspace key the second my index finger reached to type that first N in nod. But I know there are other repeat words and phrases that are easier to overlook, too. My awesome computer-programmer husband actually wrote me a computer program that goes through and identifies all my most frequently used phrases— in groups of 2 words, all the way up to groups of 5 words. But for those not married to my husband I know I’ve heard of similar software that does the same thing— if anyone knows the exact programs, feel free to leave the name in the comments.
Bad habits don’t have to apply just to the writing, either, they can also be about how we write. I’m generally really disciplined (read: mildly compulsive) about staying on track and making my word-count goals each day happen. But I still have a horrible habit of whenever I’m paused for a second, thinking about the exact word or phrase or sentence I want to use, instead of just sitting and thinking about it, I’ll click over and check my e-mail first. I’ve found that either disconnecting my computer from the internet or working somewhere internet isn’t even available to me is helpful in breaking that habit— or working on it, anyway.
Sometimes bad habits have to do with our attitudes: sitting down to write, only to think about every rejection letter you’ve ever gotten, for example. Or every bad review your books have ever received. I used to do that, but then I completely broke the habit of self-doubt, and . . . ha, no, not really. Still working on that one. Which, really, is all we can expect ourselves to do: to work on the habits we know we need to improve.
No writer is perfect, just like no book is 100 percent perfect or ever can be. I’m sure when I finish a draft of my current work-in-progress, I’ll find something else that my characters are apparently addicted to doing, even if it’s not obsessive nodding. So I’ll fix it, and that will be one fewer bad habit that I’ll carry over with me to the next book I write. Because it does get easier. After 20+ books, I do know that much: we may never achieve writerly perfection, but every book— every sentence, even— that we write teaches us just a little bit more about ourselves and our craft. We’re works-in-progress, too, and that’s okay— in fact, it’s exactly the way it should be.
What about you? Do you have any bad writing habits? Or any tips on how you go about breaking them?
Anna Elliott is an author of historical fiction and fantasy. Her first series, the Twilight of Avalon trilogy, is a retelling of the Trystan and Isolde legend. She wrote her second series, the Pride and Prejudice Chronicles, chiefly to satisfy her own curiosity about what might have happened to Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and all the other wonderful cast of characters after the official end of Jane Austen’s classic work. She enjoys stories about strong women, and loves exploring the multitude of ways women can find their unique strengths. Anna lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and three children.
Just and got. Those are my repeat offenders and I’ve just got to stop it, that’s all there is to it.
LOTS of bad habits I need to break but it should be easier now that I’m on the patch. WU is my 12-step group.
Thanks, Anna, for keeping us on the lookout for those nasty habits and giving us tips on how to break them. If I didn’t smoke, I don’t know how I’d do it.
Ha! Very funny, Mike. Also, I suspect, true for us all. :-)
In my current WIP, I’m keeping a running list of words I think I’m overusing, so that I can do a word search for each one, once I’m done. That’s about as sophisticated a program as I’m going to get!
I definitely do that, too, as a first line of defense.
Thank you for these words of encouragement, Anna!
In the past, when I thought I was close to done with my WIP (ha!), I ran a couple of my chapters through a website called sporkforge.com (https://sporkforge.com/text/word_count.php). It will list recurring words and phrases.
Thanks for the resource link, that looks great!
Thanks for this list!
We all have ’em! When I pasted the entire text of my historical fiction WIP into Wordle, the graphic told me I’d used ‘just’ almost as often as the antagonist’s name. Yikes!
Yep, horrifying, isn’t it? :-) Nice to know I’m not alone. :-)
The software program http://www.prowritingaid.com will catch this type of thing under “most overused” and suggest the number of entries you need to delete – you upload about 10 pages at a time; it also catches misuse or lack of punctuation, level of difficulty, echos, misspellings, grammar mistakes, sentence length on a graph and tons more. Well worth the price.
My favorite word is “just”. Seems I’m in good company
Thanks so much for the software link, that looks very interesting. Now I’m starting to wonder whether I over-use ‘just’ too, and just have never noticed it. ;-)
My characters nod a lot, also. Like, all the time. They also like to shrug and raise an eyebrow. Sigh. And I do the same thing you mentioned about clicking over to the internet when I’m pausing to think. I tell myself I’m taking a mental break. Ha!
Ha, glad I’m not the only one! I totally do that with eyebrows and shrugs, also.
Thanks for the post, Anna. It’s amazing how many words are repeated — sometimes in the same paragraph! I just ran a word search for “began to” as in “she began to talk” instead of “she talked” and it turned up 20 in my 100-page WIP. I don’t know if other people have the “began to” problem — it seems to be a Southern thing. Thank heavens I didn’t use the other Southern phrase: she’s “fixin’ to” as in “she’s fixin’ to go to the store”!
Thanks for the reminder to be vigilant.
I’m not from the south, but I have caught myself over-using ‘started to’. It really does take a whole ton of vigilance to weed those pesky phrases out!
This is so…human. LOL Thanks for the reminder, Anna!
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT (Gift of Travel)
Yes, just keepin’ it real around here. ;-)
Thanks for the timely post, Anna. I use a program called AutoCrit, https://www.autocrit.com/ which has a variety of functions, one of which tells me word usage, like how many times I use “which”!
That looks like a great program, thanks for sharing here, Brin! I’m sure you’re in good company with an abundance of which-es. :-)
Anna, I use AutoCrit to help me uncover overused words and phrases. I find it very helpful! It has seven broad editing categories, and the repetition section offers five ways to search for areas to edit. https://www.autocrit.com/
I was a little surprised to hear that your editor missed the frequent nods your characters made. I have a basic understanding of the different types of editing, so perhaps it wasn’t the type of editing that would explain them being missed. It’s hard to cough up $$$ for editing (I’m indie) and then hear stories like yours.
Cheers to your husband for his help!!!
Oh, I am SO guilty of this. In early drafts, my characters do so much nodding and head-shaking that they would each end up needing to wear a neck brace!
I also have a tendency to repeat some phrases verbatim without realizing it – usually bits of stage direction or physical gestures. I used to find them with a wonderful piece of software called Cliche Cleaner (https://www.cliches.biz/clichecleaner/index.html), but it doesn’t work on the latest version of Windows. So now I use TextAnz (https://www.textanz.com/), which I don’t like quite as well, although it actually has more functionality.
But without using those tools? Neck braces for everyone!
Crutch words! “Just” is a favorite. “That” and “-ing” words too. My characters also take a lot of deep breaths. It’s a miracle they don’t pass out. My other crutch words change with every project. So annoying!
A bad habit that’s tougher to find and kill: compound prepositional phrases. Like “on the grass under the tree near the street.” I think it’s a leftover from my technical writing days.
My worst habit, which my writing buddies always comment on, is writing long convoluted complex sentences that are always clear and structurally correct and say everything I wish to say (and all too often much more) but cause readers to be exhausted and out of breath by the time they get to the end.
You have terrific self-effacing humor. I love how your replies highlight your errors.
Hi, Anna! We are ALL guilty, it would appear!
My weakest word is “that,” my second weakest is “turned,” my third is “looked.”
Dang. My characters sure do a lot of turning and looking! Maybe I should write a book about sailors.
Anyway, I LOVE my Ctrl-F keys (Control-F). A godsend, really. I have a LONG list of overused words which have become habitual over the years, so during my last re-writes, I hit Ctrl-F every day for a week straight, getting rid of all those little irritating speed bumps.
Thanks to all who suggest particular sites to turn to. I will look into them!
Nodding vigorously in agreement, Anna. And, like so many here, no justification for all the “justs” that pepper my prose; they mate well with all the “verys” I toss in.
I’m also very handy with qualifications that are just feathers, like “a little,” “rather,” and “a bit.” A bit sad, rather. (And note: until I reread, I didn’t see the “just” here—jail him!)
I ‘ve always liked that Twain quote, “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Very good! Nodding off now…
Ha! Tom, I thought of the same Twain quote, but knew you’d rather quote it just a little bit more than I did.
Mike, you are so polite. I owe you a drink (or at least an olive) when we meet.
Oh my gosh, I totally do that with the qualifiers, also– my favorite is ‘slightly’. That Twain quote is one of my favorites, thanks for reminding me!
Very helpful. One line of defense should be your editor. Overuse/repetition injects the presence of the writer into the fictive dream, breaking the spell and damaging credibility. I’m deep into an edit of a 150,000-word fantasy by a skilled writer, yet my editor’s ear has caught overuse of: slumped, sighing, scowling (50 times), rolling eyes, and snorts (26 of them). When I notice these I point them out, sometimes doing a search to see how frequently a phrase or word is used. I advise my client on usages but don’t try to suggest changes for all of them. The software mentioned can definitely help, but so does an astute reader/editor. Thanks for bringing this up.
In a published novel, I came across a character who “bellowed” twice on one page. You’d think an editor could remember a bellow that long.
Just! And other qualifiers: very, kind of, sort of, a little. Also “and” or “but” at the beginning of sentences; and yes, “ing” constructions instead of simple and “started to” before verbs. Once I became aware of some of my proclivities, I (started to) run a search for the words I overused during my first revision. I will definitely try out the web tools mentioned here.
I once read Dune aloud to my wife (I recommend bedtime reading to all) and noticed Herbert SAS fond of people barking. They barked orders, retorts, so often that I came to dread his dialog.
So, folks, know even the famous fall person to the power of crutch words.
Hi, Anna:
This sort of thing becomes much more interesting, but far less productive, if you make it a drinking game.
Ha! I’d probably turn anyone who counted my characters nods into an alcoholic.
Nods, smiles, smirks, and shrugs always have to be eradicated from my earlier drafts. Those visual cues you’d see in a film but which, you’re right, are usually unnecessary (and are at least uncreative) on the page.
Hi all,
My editor just discovered that I had “touched her/his shoulder” eighty-nine times in my novel. Good grief! Other favorites: overuse of the words “that,” “own” (his own, her own). I keep a list, and search for those words or phrases before I ever turn the manuscript over to my editor. And they STILL keep cropping up. Sheesh. I must be a writer.
I have a list of ‘weasel’ words and when editing do a search and get rid or change them. One word I love to repeat over and over is – “said”. No screaming, retorting, bellowing, spluttering, snorting, hollering, spitting, etc. ; just “said”. But show how said.
Great share, Anna
My characters laugh a lot as in, “You’re so funny!” he laughed. She laughed and said, “I know, right?’
A great reminder and great links in the comments. Thanks.
Starting sentences with ‘and or ‘but. My first two manuscripts were littered with them. I mean, like, five and six a page! Ugh! Now that I’m aware, it’s better, but I still have to do a find and replace to make sure I catch and fix most of them. :)