I’m going back to the well for today’s blog post. The first “5 Overused Words to Cut from Your Manuscript” is this site’s top post of all time. Let’s milk that cow!
Moo!
1. Suddenly – This word might be more indicative of lazy writing than ‘very.’ Unless your favorite show is Suddenly Susan.
2. That – This word gets used a lot more than necessary. I tend to use it for sentence rhythm purposes, but even then, they often will get cut from the work.
3. Almost – This word comes across as repetitive. Repetitive means it should be excised…almost always!
4. Awesome – I throw this one out there because I use it WAY too often in conversation. Therefore, it finds its way into my writing. Note: An exclusion is made for the awesome song “Everything Is Awesome”!
5. Actually – Want to sound like an unaware know-it-all? Throw ‘actually’ into all your corrective sentences.
I’d like to add a disclaimer. Because these words are overused does not mean there aren’t times and situations when they shouldn’t be. Using them in your work doesn’t make your work bad. An overreliance on them will. Tread carefully!
Okay, ‘suddenly’ should never be used. Like, ever.
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