Pet Peeves

Improve your writing by eliminating words that are for the most part, meaningless.

I am referring to ones like the ubiquitous had, and the infamous had had. I read a thriller by a well known author and counted had’s for the first part of the book. Interpolating for the whole tome, I figure the author could have shaved six pages off the manuscript by eliminating the word had. There are a few instances where had’s use is justified. One is to set a flashback into the past. After the first one, the rest can be eliminated as long as there is a clear transition back to the present. Come on folks, seven in one paragraph, or fifteen on a page is downright excessive.

Others falling into this ilk are: very, just, than, that, and only. Toss in the most innocuous, imprecise word in the English language, nice. Example: She was nice. Does that mean she was pretty, fat, articulate, shy, loquacious, skinny, ugly? Any of those would be better than nice.

On this one, I agree with Mark Twain, if you see an adverb, kill it! (He is reputed to have said the same about adjectives.) Adverbs are lazy writing — they tell rather than show. And if used in a dialog attribution, the author should be executed at dawn — he said angrily :-)

These are space fillers for third grade word counters. Remember how hard it was to get one-hundred words down on paper? Watch books by multi-published authors and how they ignore this idea. I consider it lazy writing and an insult to their readers.

Bee Jay Sez

I just accepted an invitation to speak to a writers’ group. For this one, I’ll need to drive 100 miles to meet with a group of a half-dozen or so. I’ve spoken to assemblies of various sizes way larger than this. Why this one, you ask?

I think part of the role of a writer is to share, to give something back. So many others have done this before, and I’ve garnered a wealth of information from them. It is my turn.

The people I will speak to live in a relatively small town and off the beaten path. They’ve been meeting for just over a year. I believe they are a group of writers serious about the craft, and that is all the incentive I need. I hope I can tickle their muse.
BeeJaySez