Crutch...filler...weasel...nuisance. These are names editors and authors give to words that are overused in a manuscript. See the long list below of words that often-not-always confuse the message, are redundant within a sentence, and/or are repetitive on the page. Since I've recently typed THE END on my fourth YA romance, I'm ready to do a search-and-destroy mission on these in the name of revisions. Each instance will get reviewed to see what works, what gets reworded, and what simply gets wiped clean.
It's always interesting to see how many times a word/phrase gets used. Which of these will get the "weasel" award this time around?
A
Again, Almost, Always, And then, Anything, At last
B
Big, Both
C, D, E
Else, Enormous, Even, Every, Everything
F
Finally, Find
G
Giant, Grin, Great
H
Hard, Huge
I, J
Just
K
Know
L
Large, Like, Little, Long, Look
M
Massive, Maybe, Merely, Mostly
N
New, Nod
O
Of the, Of them, Once, Others
P
Perhaps
Q, R, S
See, Seem, Seems like, Shrug, Small, Smile, So, Something, Sometimes, Soft, Still, Strange, Strong, Suddenly, Surely
T
That, Then, There, There were, Thick, Thin, Thing, Think, Tiny
U
Understand
V
Vast,Very
W, X, Y, Z
Watch, Weak, Weird, Wide, Wonder
RESOURCES (with AMZ links):
1.) Stacia Leigh at Espial Design: What Good Are Crutch Words?
2.) Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell
3.) Editing Made Easy: Simple Rules for Effective Writing by Bruce Kaplan
