I have a bad habit that I am trying to break.
I am trying to break a bad habit.
I’m breaking a bad habit.
I use filter and filler words in excess. Filler, filter, and crutch words like adverbs weaken your writing with vague ideas. They are the difference between building an exciting world that holds a reader’s attention or leaving a vague and passive impression. You don’t want to hedge around details.
There are exceptions to every rule in grammar and style. You can’t blindly delete all of them.
I would like you to meet Gradin, Aria’s best friend and a Lord from the nation of Ublynis.
me: How are you Gradin?
Gradin: I’m doing surprisingly well, considering you‘ve rewritten this fight scene entirely too many times. I’m completely bruised and bloody. The setting keeps changing. Do you have any idea how dizzy that makes us? Perhaps you might take some time to ground the scene just a bit?
me: *marks text*
Gradin: It’s has been an awfully difficult week. You could at least try not to insult me.
me: *marks text*
Gradin: Please stop.
If I remove his “no-no” words and adverb abuse he loses his voice. You can read more about developing voice here.
A character’s diction, dialect and speech patterns give your work voice. Gradin is a snob and three-quarters. People hang on his words and he hides meaning in the words he uses.
This is sample count from Scrivener (AFLINK) for my full manuscript of 74K words. I am using ProWritingAid to reduce this number, but have only reached chapter 3.
