One of my pet peeves with first drafts is that I always use "He walked here." or "She walked over there." So for a creative exercise, I set the timer for ten minutes and wrote as many words as I could think of that were more specific than 'walked'.
I started off with words like ran, skipped, crept, crawled, dragged, and dashed. The last five minutes had some pretty great ones. Waltzed, meandered, stumbled, snaked, and clamored. I think I came up with 54 words total. (I'll have to double-check, but I don't have my list.)
What common words plague your first drafts?
Got any other great synonyms for 'walked'?
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2 comments:
...and then
I'd like to erase those two words from the English language :D
Otherwise, I have phases of using a certain word or phrase. Sometimes I'm aware of over-using it, sometimes not.
The overall effect is nests of a particular phrase used again, and again, and again...
They have word analysis tools that can show you frequently-used words or phrases in your book. Maybe give it a shot?
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