This week: Editing Tips: Weak Words Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Short Stories Newsletter by Dawn
After writing comes a tough time when the words get picked apart and rewritten. This mini series looks at some editing points that may develop while working on the editing stages for stories. Today is a look at the words that might be okay but could be replaced with something better or deleted with minimal impact. |
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Editing: it is one of those stages of the story process we sometimes put off to the side or ignore when first thinking about wanting to write a story. Some struggle to reach the point, to finish the story draft and others are pushed by deadlines with minimal time to go over results before submission. Still, it's an important part of the writing process.
I'm in editing mode on a novel and each chapter has a problem that requires fixing: weak words. Once looking at the writing after a draft or two/three, some patterns and patterns emerge. In particular, there are a few words that I use way too often. Not only is it not the best to have the same word so many times in a story or section of a novel, but many of them also aren't the best choices as far as sentence impact is concerned.
It's not that any of these are wrong to use or that you need to cut every single one of them out of the story. However, a quick trim, removing some of them, will help to make for stronger writing and a better tale. You have to take a little time and consider if the words are holding their weight in the sentence, if there is a reason to keep them or if maybe they just aren't as necessary. So, consider taking out a few of these during editing or proof-reading:
Adverbs - These are a common type that many already look for during the editing process. I know I have heard about them for many years and how they need cut down in a story, yet there are still plenty of times when we find the words get overused. There is certainly a place for these but it's also something that is better left to a minimal. I've seen some drafts where paragraphs will have five and the whole short story will have at least 20 and it starts to become a bit much. While having a purpose, the words can also be replaced by stronger options that will convey the same message in better form. So, I always check each story or chapter for these, in particular those that end of -ly and trim out a few, making sure the ones kept in place have a purpose.
The Maybes - It's okay for a character to be uncertain or struggle to make a decision. However, it can start to weaken the writing and story if relying too often on a maybe. I fall for this at times too, in particular when I'm trying to stick to one point of view but need to show a possible thought or emotion from another character. It is a challenge because we don't want to head hop to showcase the actual from the other character. Words like "might" or "seemed" are ones to consider cutting when proof reading.
Just - My personal overused word and I'm sure if you check several of my newsletters that you'll find it dispersed throughout since at times I have to write these quick to get them out to you all here on WDC. If I took more time to edit, I'd probably take out those and maybe a few words ending in -ly like the one in this sentence. In my novels, I cut out around 50 or so because I use the word that much. However, in first drafts I don't worry about it and just let it go because I don't want to slow down the creation process.
Vagueness - Similar to the maybes, there are a few other words that are vague and could be replaced with stronger words. One example is the word "almost". And it is easy to see why we are tempted to use the word. A character can come near to doing or feeling something but not reach the point of completion. However, like some of these other weaker words, it's something that should be kept to a minimum because it lacks strength. There are other ways to word the sentence to not have the word or it's possible that we need to cut out some of the almost actions in order to get the characters doing and experiencing more. Other possible vague words include: really, things, stuff, and another that gives a suggestion without a specific.
Some sources with recommendations and one tool to use for assistance with editing:
https://medium.com/swlh/these-weak-words-and-phrases-are-killing-your-writing-c9...
https://expresswriters.com/50-weak-words-and-phrases-to-cut-out-of-your-blogging...
https://smartblogger.com/filler-words/
http://editminion.com/
If you're working on a first or second draft, this is something to maybe put on the back burner. When ready to trim, adjust or cut down the story to get it ready for the end result, then it's time to look for those pesky weak words. What words do you rely on in your stories? Which word is a particular crutch? Check out the resources and even if it's not as fun as the first draft, try to enjoy the editing process because finding these words, fixing to a stronger result, this is all part of the writing process.
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What are the weak words you often find in your stories? Do you rely on any in particular?
Last time I wrote for the short stories newsletter, I discussed the need for story within short word counts. The comment sent in from that particular newsletter has a good contest promotion and memory of a previous very short word count contest that helped challenge writers.
Comment by Merry_Mikey 
"Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" [13+], and other contests with a 500 word, or less, maximum word count are good practice for "putting up a house with limited materials". Back in the day, the Amazing 55 Word Contest forced you to choose your words with extreme care.
- The micro fiction is a whole different animal. Anyone who can have story in such a minimum word count amazes me but I struggle to write in less than 5,000 words, lol.
From that newsletter there was also a focus on house building as I compared tiny homes to tiny stories and a comment came in discussing tiny homes and offered a personal connection.
Comment by Paul 
Hi,
My daughter, Paprica Clark, designed tiny homes for Tumbleweed for a couple years then went out on her own for several more. She designed, her husband the contractor built them and I helped (was a go-fer) on several of them. They got out of that mostly because her husband doesn’t want to swing a hammer any more and it wasn’t steady income. You can see her site here; https://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/introducing-bungalow-to-go/
She’s an easy person to talk to, but she may be busy rendering video for their current project. They travel Northern California and he flys some high-end drones taking video of trails, campsites and other beautiful things then she pretties them up and they post on Facebook. He leads people to the sites.
Thank you for the post, I’m still trying to learn the craft.
Paul
🌹😄🐸🙏🏼
- Thank you for the lengthy response. I have been watching a lot about tiny homes though there are only a few shows to watch. I'm not very handy but am starting to learn. It's fun to use things like house builds in order to talk about writing from a different viewpoint.
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Short Stories: September 23, 2020 Issue [#10379]
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