So many elements go into making a manuscript strong. One of the top ones for me as a writer, reader, and editor is prose. Sure, prose is word flow and rhythm. It\u2019s cadence, absolutely. It\u2019s part of your voice. But here\u2019s one exercise you can do the next time you\u2019re adding words to your work-in-progress, an exercise that will have an immediate impact on your work: be intentional about word choice.<\/p>\n
REPETITION<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t settle for the first word that comes to mind, as most likely it\u2019s the most basic. Instead, take a moment to consider your other options. And never repeat the same word in the same half-page of a document. Even words like \u201clook,\u201d etc. Grab a thesaurus and resist the urge to settle. <\/p>\n
PREPOSITIONS AND PREP PHRASES<\/p>\n
Be careful to avoid overuse of prepositions and prepositional phrases as well. Rework. Even phrases like \u201cshe kissed him on the nose\u201d can be shortened to \u201cshe kissed his nose.\u201d Watch out for phrases like \u201con the chair in the corner by the door.\u201d Rework to tighten. I keep a handy list of prepositions nearby so I can weed many of them out. <\/p>\n
AVOID CLICH\u00c9S<\/p>\n
Always try to rework tired phrases. If you feel you\u2019ve seen\/heard the phrase before, don\u2019t use it in your own work. Editors spot them and unless they\u2019re in someone\u2019s dialogue as a character\u2019s manner of communicating, we don\u2019t want to see them.<\/p>\n
SAY WHAT YOU MEAN TO SAY <\/p>\n
Take your time to choose words with nuances you intended. Watch out for phrases that communicate something you did not mean. <\/p>\n
EXCITING NOUNS AND VERBS<\/p>\n
Choose interesting verbs to avoid overuse of commonly overused terms, like \u201clook,\u201d \u201cstep,\u201d \u201cwalk,\u201d \u201cturn.\u201d Challenge yourself to avoid common nouns like \u201cgaze,\u201d \u201clook,\u201d etc. <\/p>\n
Take the time to choose the right word. Your writing will shine when you do. <\/p>\n
How about you? Do you let those words slip through and fix them during rewrites? Do you dig for the right word on the first draft? What\u2019s the best way you\u2019ve found to churn up stronger words? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So many elements go into making a manuscript strong. One of the top ones for me as a writer, reader, and editor is prose. Sure, prose is word flow and rhythm. It\u2019s cadence, absolutely. It\u2019s part of your voice. But here\u2019s one exercise you can do the next time you\u2019re adding words to your work-in-progress, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[18,165,166,138,87,167],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-editing-tips","tag-nouns","tag-prose","tag-thursdays-tips","tag-verbs","tag-word-choice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}