Battling Word Addictions

Are you addicted to certain words? Does "suddenly" suddenly appear in your manuscripts? Let us stage an intervention.

I'll go first. My name is Julie, and I have a word addiction. Not just awesome words that leap off the page. No. There are certain useless words that wiggle their way into my manuscripts. A lot. Some of my repeat offenders are: then, only, just, and really.

I don't know of a 12-step program for addictive words. What should we do about those little buggers? I've created a list, and I ran a word search for each one. I was able to rephrase just about everything, making the story stronger. Really. (See? I like that word).

A writer friend suggested using Wordle, where our addictive words jump out at us, all big and bold. Also, WriteWords has a Word Frequency Counter and Phrase Frequency Counter.

My addictive words are weak. K.M. Weiland wrote a great post about Why Vague Writing is Weak Writing.

What are your addictive words? If you have any tips for kicking the habit, please share in the comments.

On a side note, if you write for children or young adults, YAtopia is hosting a pitch contest with agent Ammi-Joan Paquette. Deadline is March 24th, or 150 entries, whichever comes first. Good luck!

photo credit

Conquering Writer's Block

Each day, writers are blessed with the opportunity to do what they love. They also leap over hurdles such as doubt, writer's block, and procrastination. The writer might think, I need inspiration, I don't know what I'm doing, or should I stick with this story?

K.M. Weiland just released her cd, "Conquering Writer's Block and Summoning Inspiration." She breaks down topics into bite-sized, easy-to-swallow pieces. She understands our joys, fears and frustrations, and offers practical tips on how we can become better writers.

Some of her other topics are "Daydream or Die," "Why You Should be Writing Scared," and "Why no writer knows what he's doing."

You can purchase K.M.'s series here. And don't forget to stop by her blog, Word Play, any time. There's always useful pieces of information and encouragement floating around on her site.

Enjoy!

photo credit: K.M. Weiland