I am currently hard at work editing my 90K+ collection of short stories that will be published soon. As I go through this work and apply some of the things that I’ve learned editing other authors’ works, I found that I have some crutch words.
In public speaking, crutch words are things like ‘um’ or using the word ‘so’ to start sentences when there is a pause needed to collect your thoughts.
It’s a bit different in writing. In writing, crutch words can pop out at you during the editing process. This is partly true because enhancements to Microsoft Word’s grammar check actually point them out with nasty brown underlines (appropriate color).
The important thing to remember is, if you overuse a particular word or phrase, your reader will notice it and will start to get annoyed by the frequent repetition.
My Crutch Words
My worst crutch words that I see repeated over and over are ‘had’ and ‘that’. Here is an example of an unedited sentence from one of my short stories:
When he transferred BERTA and digital Rachel to the isolated server, he had left himself a back door to retrieve the system if necessary.
As you can see, the word had is in bold in this sentence. After editing it reads:
When he transferred BERTA and digital Rachel to the isolated server, he left himself a back door to retrieve the system if necessary.
Removing had makes no difference in the meaning of the sentence. The crutch word is gone and the sentence is still standing.
Here is an example with an unnecessary that.
“Yes, we do,” the simulation answered in a Rachel-like voice that was tempered with more anger than Ben had ever heard in the real Rachel’s tone.
In this example both that and was are unnecessary and can be removed.
“Yes, we do,” the simulation answered in a Rachel-like voice tempered with more anger than Ben had ever heard in the real Rachel’s tone.
Once again, no difference in the meaning and the sentence is cleaner.
Now that I’ve bared my soul and exposed one of my writing flaws, what about you? Do you use crutch words? If so, which ones?
Discover more from Don Massenzio
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Reblogged this on DSM Publications and commented:
Check out this post from my author blog.
I think we all have those over-used words, Don. I know I do. I think it helps (this is what I tell my students, too) to read a passage aloud, and see how it sounds. Then it’s easier to spot ‘those words.’
I find that, when I examine my own speech patterns, I tend to use those crutch words as well. I think that hunting them down and eradicating them in my writing has helped me speak better as well.
Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
Thanks for sharing this, Anna
Reblogged this on Author S. L. Danielson and commented:
I definitely use crutch words..a bit. Then. Now. My editors must beat me over the head with the crutches! LOL
Thanks for sharing this.
Excellent reminders!
Thank you.
Crutch words? Who me? The first thing I do when I am finished writing a piece is to run “Find and Replace” to eliminate the dreaded “that”. I don’t worry about them as I write because it disrupts my flow and I know I have an easy fix. There might be another “Find and Replace” word, but I can’t reveal all of my secrets. Great post, Don.
Thanks. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
Thanks for sharing this, Chris.
Welcome, Don 😃
Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
Thanks so much for sharing this.
Pingback: Editing Your Draft – Crutch Words | Thoughts by Mello-Elo
Just, soon, then, started to, very – there are many. I try to hunt them down and eradicate them before I actually publish.
Good work, Darlene. I’m getting better. My editor used to catch them all and scold me.
We all use them, Don. They are a holdover from when we first started writing. Call it lazy or habit you are right about eliminating them. Good post.
Thanks, John.
I did realize how bad I was until I pulled my novel from amazon to do some additional editing. I looked for crutch worlds and the pathetic words that end with ‘ly’, and so on. When I finished the novel was 40 pages and 10000 words lighter. IT’s a much better read now.
Awesome. I’m doing the same with my book before it goes to my editor and I get spanked.
Another combination to watch for is ‘to be’. And mannerisms can get repetitive – how many times can a character twitch an eyebrow or glance sideways, or at something, before it becomes annoying?
Very true. I find that I have a lot of people that lean back in their chair and lace their fingers behind their head…why, because I do this a lot.
They often do these things just when I’ve paused to work out what they’re doing next! 🙂
Reblogged this on When Angels Fly.
Thanks for sharing this.
Welcome Don!
Yes I use both of those, and ‘So….’ I do use ‘do’ in the same way, which is often a way of stressing something when I write it, but doesn’t read that way later. I have to check on the number of looks people give each other, and other times they are looking at things. Look, they’ll say…. It’s frightening, really.
Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links – Staci Troilo
Thanks for reading, Don. I took heed of the same words some time ago, as I always wrote ‘that’ and ‘very’ too much. It’s those little, unnecessary, words that stick in the throat once you’re aware of them! x
Reading aloud helps you find many of them.