I’m back from my break and it wasn’t all about relaxing. In fact, I spent a good deal of time in custody. This post is about 3 years old, but the Word Police continue to visit me every time a WIP starts throwing it’s weight around and threatening to take hostages. While I catch up on reading posts and replying to comments, I hope you enjoy this oldie, but goodie.
***
Your WIP is looking respectable. It kicks off with a barbed hook and wraps up with a big fish. You’ve plugged up the plot holes, got the dialog flowing, the pace humming, and planted Chekov’s gun on the mantel. The characters are consistent, motivated, and true to life. The structure can withstand a windstorm.
The time has arrived for a visit from the Word Police,
and they’re a humorless bunch.
This is Step 3 in my editing process, the epitome of tediousness, a procrastinator’s nightmare. This is when writing is unadulterated, grueling toil. It’s time for me to weed out all those lame words, wimpy verbs, and crutch words that add no value to my prose. They’re plain old polyester when I strive for silk.
We all tap ordinary words. This post brims with them. Sometimes they’re the perfect choice, and sometimes there’s no wriggling around them. In dialog, where characterization drives dialect and word choice, an attempt to police your words could prove foolhardy.
Yet, on the whole, if we explore more colorful options, delete the meaningless fillers, and zero in on those “telling” indicators, our writing will grow richer and more compelling.
In my case, the Word Police handcuff me to my recliner for weeks on end, inject me with caffeine, and force me to use the “Find” function in Word until my eyeballs dry out and my brain shrivels. They know my lazy words well, those I’m oblivious to as they tiptoe into my WIP. For starters the Crutch-word Cops make me look up 561 “that’s.”
I look at thousands of words, one at a time. When I can, I switch them out, thin them, delete them, or rewrite them away…depending.
Here’s the full list (except for the ones I missed). Get to know your favorites and feel free to add a few!
Wimpy Verbs: was/were, has/had, have, be, been, could, got, did, put, needed, wanted, gave, took, saw, walked, ran, sat, liked, moved, looked, appeared, seemed, made, turned, came, went, became…
Crutch Words – fillers: that, then, next, well, OK, just, actually, really, only, still, yet, since, perhaps, maybe, so, even, tried, began, started…
Vague Words: very, quite, rather, more, almost, about, around, often, some, somehow, somewhat…
Lame Words: really, awesome, amazing, great, better, dark, sad/happy, cold/hot, fast/slow, old/new, big/small, bad/good, nice, fine, interesting, beautiful, wonderful, sexy, for a moment, a bit, a few, lots, someone, something …
Telling Words – thinking/explaining: knew, thought, suspected, remembered, believed, understood, imagined, doubted, supposed, realized, wondered, guessed, hoped, wished, because…
Telling Words – sensing: Watched, saw, observed, felt, smelled, tasted, heard…
Telling Words – adverbs: Hopefully, quickly, slowly, slightly, sincerely, personally, possibly, certainly, exactly, finally, suddenly… (search by “ly”).
Myths of the Mirror 
Word police…. great title…never really given attention to how my words were set. I had to think for almost five minutes before I could think of a word after really. Nice post
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These words are banned, of course. I use them all the time in speaking and informal writing, but they’re good ones to replace when spicing up your writing for publication. Thanks for taking a peek and have a great week! 🙂
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No problem…good job again
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Haha! I love ALL OF THE WORDS! 😁 Crutch words, vague words, lame words, and (especially) adverbs! Yay for adverbs! They’re quite awesome, really.
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P.S. So glad to see you took a break. Hopefully you suddenly realized you finally needed a break. I perasonally feel they are AWESOME!
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Yes. I’m taking another at the end of May for a family reunion. And no guilt. Life is all about living, right? They are awesome!
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I am happy to hear that, too. Another break. ❤ Yes, life is for living. It's a good thing to keep in mind (though kind of sad that I have to keep it in mind, if that makes sense). Have fun!
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We live in a time when we have so many choices that we can’t fit everything in, and so many of them are enjoyable. What a 1st world problem, huh?
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Indeed. (On both counts.)
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I use almost all of these, even “very” when it feels right. And yes, adverbs come in handy. Thanks for the visit, Sarah. Enjoy your words, my friend. ❤
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After this lesson you need a better break hahaha. I am as bad with words too. I try to think if it is age getting in the way or what! You took me way down memory lane in my English class long time ago, oooh my days, I just don’t want to return there. And French class was my worse moment of all time. I was good at English then, but now I am all messed up with words! Thank you for reminding us again, I should print and stick it in front of my keyboard! Happy Easter!
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I did need a break after my break. Ha ha. I’m an English speaker and I still need reminders all the time. But finding lovely words is part of the fun of writing, so the Word Police are welcome. 🙂
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hahahahah, I think I will be the first to be arrested before Lana! hahaha LOL! words words words.
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I’m glad Goodreads notified me about your posts. I haven’t been getting any notifications and thinking you’re still having a break, dear Diana. This ia a great article and I should copy/paste it for future reference. Hope you are well. Happy Easter! 🙂 BTW your website looks great. I love the white background and the bigger font.
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Hi Sebnem! The Word Police are frequent visitors at my house. 🙂 I use this list is every book. I haven’t changed my site, but I’m glad it looks good! Ha ha. Maybe I should! Happy Easter. 🙂
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I must be seeing things! Happy Easter, Diana! 🙂
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[…] Genre E. Michael Helms – Sense and Sensibility [Not what you think!] D. Wallace Peach – The Word Police Ernest Hemingway – How to Write […]
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Thanks for sharing, Mike. The Word Police are annoying with all their picky rules, but ultimately they’re our friends. 😀
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Omg Diana, you had me in stitches reading this! Dictionary, thesaurus, Why We Say It, Gregg Reference Manual, and many more line my desk and glare at me while I’m writing. Welcome back, sister! Guess you need a real break now, eh? 🙂 ❤
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You have a bunch of resources! I mostly rely on Word’s thesaurus, but I also jot down cool words I notice when I’m reading… another reason writers should also read. I’m glad I made you laugh. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend and stay out of word-jail, my friend. ❤
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I’ll give it my best shot 🙂 ❤
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Happy you’re back, Diana! This is a post I need to print out, frame, and hang in front of me while I write. Better yet, find a way to burn it into my brain.
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I pull this list out with every book, Teri. These words just have a way of sneaking in there even though I know better! I’ll think I’m doing pretty good and then I’ll find 400 “so” and 600 “only.” Ugh! And most of them can just be deleted! Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Writing!
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These are great, Diana. Being an editor by career, I love being the word police – unless I’m editing myself. Haha. I agree with all of yours. But I do love my adverbs, I admit abashedly….
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I use adverbs too, Pam. None of these are “never use” words, they’re just worth taking a look at. Sometimes I switch out boring words, read the passage a day later and put a few back in because the prose sounds stilted. Argh! Ha ha. That’s why a computer will never be able to write a book. 😀
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Thank the god and goddesses!!!
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I love this Diana…I am probably..No, I am the worlds worst…Hand up! I admit it!…But I love this and admire your fortitude 🙂 xx
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I don’t pay much attention to words in ordinary conversation or informal writing, Carol, but in my books, I’m a little OCD about putting my best out there. I can make myself nutty too. 😀 Thanks for the visit and Happy Pickling!
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Hahaha I love this! Yes it is a tedious process but a necessary one, nonetheless. It’s really cool that you do it yourself! That shows real commitment and also a great deal of versatility. Amazing, Diana!
Keep up the great work 🙂 And keep those pesky words well behind bars 😉
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Thanks, Sophie. An editor would probably catch a lot of this, but I’m a little OCD about it, probably. Ha ha. I like the control even if my eyeballs fall out and my brain turns to mush. Thanks for the visit, my friend. Have an awesome day. 🙂
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Hahaha well, you know what they say: if you want to have something done right, you should do it yourself 😉
Thank you, and you too! ❤️
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You have no idea, Diana, how this post made me happy. After i finished all the ‘polishing’ of my book, i woke up one morning and decided that i wasn’t finished. i googled ‘lame words’ and then i started going through them, one by one, replacing the words wherever i thought a replacement sounded better. i had a lot of buts, arounds, stills, thens, and most of the words you mentioned above.
I’m so relieved to know that i’m not the only person who roots these words out.
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Good for you, Jina. These just have a way of sneaking into our work (my work anyway) no matter how attuned we are to them. It’s tedious work, but so worth it. I think it shows in the final product. Happy Writing, my friend. 🙂
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To you as well.
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Ha ha, love this Diana! I commit may ‘crimes’ every day. My daughter is learning to write using the IEW and she has to replace wimpy verbs and add in clauses and strong adjectives and adverbs, etc. I wish I had learned to write this way. I am learning a lot too, lol! 😀
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That’s amazing that they’re teaching your daughter those skills. Good for her! I didn’t get that kind of help in school either. I use standard mundane language all the time, Antonia, except when writing books, which I try hard to bring to life and make interesting. So no worries. 🙂
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I home school her and I enrolled her in a very good English program. I am enjoying learning along side her.
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It sounds like you made a wonderful choice. 🙂
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😀
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Always something for me to learn… great post, Diana. Thanks for this! 🙂
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You’re welcome. Just something to think about. I’m full of lame weak words, so the Word Police are frequent visitors. 🙂 Have a great day.
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An excellent list
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Thanks for checking it out, Derrick. It’s one that I refer to with every book project. Have a wonderful day. 😀
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Great post, this list will be helpful to come back to now and again. I go through phases of using certain words too much, right now one of those is ‘so.’ 🙂
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Oh yes, Marcia. I love so. Everything is so… whatever. So many of the so’s can be simply eliminated because they’re don’t add anything whatsoever. I’m so glad you visited and so hope you have a wonderful evening. 🙂
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What a great roundup of lame words, Diana! I try to stay on top of tired words also. I’m really bad with the word that. I’m so bad with it that I think I’m being followed by the THAT police. I had an old English teacher who really got onto me for using very. I’ve never used it since, ha ha.
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Isn’t “that” funny! I use it less now, but it still sneaks in there all the time. I was telling someone that in avoiding the word “look,” everyone in my books is “gazing” and “glancing!” So now I have to search those words too and change some back to “look.” Lol. It’s endless. 😀
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ooh Lana, what a teacher we have in Diana. We are all the kids following her! Lana – don’t write another poem – hey teacher leave those kids alone, I know you too well hahahah LOL!
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Yes we do, we all love Diana. Not only is she a talented writer, but she is a genuine lovely person much like you are too, Juli 😀 It is almost time for me to start leaving those kids alone too, which I will be happy to take a break from, LOL.
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I love Diana too, she sees the little things, those mistakes we make. hahaha, I am the worse! LOL! I am so happy we found Diana and she tells us about our mistakes with words – Bless her heart!
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🙂
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Thanks, Juli! But I learn from Lana! Her writing is beautiful and she has the most wonderful “voice.” It’s wonderful to have all these talented friends on WP 🙂
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She is so wonderful isn’t she, and all of you girls are too. It’s been great meeting everyone on word press! Big family!
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A most excellent post! It goes hand-in-hand with my post today. 🙂
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Oh good. Great minds think alike. It must be in the air. Funny how that happens. I have another day of catching up on blogs, but I’ll be over to check it out! Happy Writing!
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Oh my gosh, this is literally one of THE BEST posts I’ve read in a while! The writing is incredible and it had me laughing out loud. Especially when I read the “lame words” list. I happen to use those often! Lol! Fantastic post!!
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I’m glad it was helpful! I use most of these lame, weak, and telling words, and they are completely invisible until a Word search highlights them. Then it’s eye-opening! Ugh. Lol. Happy Writing, Frankie, and thanks for the visit. 🙂
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Very helpful. I find a lot of these with Autocrit (an online tool) but not all of them. I’ve added your list to my edit protocol!
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That’s good to know, Jacqui. I haven’t tried Autocrit. I’m thinking of trying Prowritingaid. Hm. I should compare. Regarding this list, I don’t use all these words to excess but I definitely have my favorites! As tiresome as this step it, it always feels good to get it done. Happy Writing!
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I laughed out loud when I read the lame words. Guilty as charged! Haha. I copied and pasted your list for quick reference so that when I am feeling lazy, I will be motivated to consider my word choice a little harder. So good to see you back, Diana! I hope you had a lovely time and acheived all of the things you set out to! Big hug! xo
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I go through this list for every book, Tanya. I avoid using “look” and everyone ends up “gazing” and “glancing” at each other. UGH! Lol. I had a wonderful break and did lots of gardening. Glad to be back though. Happy Writing, my friend. 🙂
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It’s good to see you back! I especially the word police item of telling words. Thank you 🙂
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Thanks, Erika. It’s impossible, I think, to get rid of all those telling words all the time, but they’re certainly worth paring down. My characters seem to do a lot of thinking, suspecting, supposing, and knowing! Ha ha. Happy Writing, my friend. 🙂
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Nice to see you back 🙂
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I am, Sue. Thank you. I washed windows and read and gardened and… edited. Tons of visits to catch up on. I’ll be over today to see what you’ve been up to! ❤
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Just the usual my end… for now 😉
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I’m looking forward to your next prompt and being a little creative. 😀
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It will be out tomorrow… and hopefully spark an idea or two 🙂
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This is outstanding (tried not to use a lame word), Karen. The humor you used, combined with a great (oh, I caved to lame) story made for a supercalafraduliciousexpialidocious (how’s that?) post. Really! Thank you, Karen.
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Thanks, Jennie. I use lame words in blogging all the time. And I know I do as I write them. It’s more natural and conversational. But books… the Word Police are relentless! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. 🙂
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Oh, I more than enjoyed the post, Diana. The Word Police are lurking. 😀
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Excellent, Diana. I used to think I enjoyed this task, but the more I do it, the more abhorrent it becomes. Thanks for sharing these wonderful words of wisdom! I am guilty of using ALL of these woeful words with abandon. And glad to see you’re back from your break! For a moment I really thought you were in real life custody and I thought, ‘Diana!? Impossible!’. Glad to know my instincts about your moral judgements were correct. 😀
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These weak, lame words just pour out of me too, Lenora. That’s why the Word Police are frequent visitors to my WIP. Not real jail, but they do glower at me and make me sweat. Ha ha. Thanks for the visit and Happy Writing!
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Ha. You are so right, Diana. I think I’m in custody too. 🙂 I really enjoyed this. Good reminders. Hugs.
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Thanks, Teagan. I use this list with every WIP, and it’s amazing how much junk I pull out of my writing. Ugh. Glad you enjoyed the post. Happy Writing!
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Yes, it’s great. I have (or had) a brief passage in Bloom… that I kept debating on removing (but because it was really about something someone stole from my writing and I worked it into the story). I kept going back and forth on whether to keep it. Then last week I decided that the passage did nothing to advance the storyline, so I took it out… even though having it made me feel validated.
No writing today — hurt my back with the snow. Maybe tomorrow. Hugs.
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Yeah-the word police! 😀😀 Both a grind and incredibly satisfying task, and so important to enrich one’s work! You sound meticulous in looking up thousands of words … my pet word I discovered was ‘soon’! I must have fallen in love with the word, it made so many appearances! Great post, Diana and always relevant to all writers all times!
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Ha ha ha. And those pet words switch, Annika. As soon as you stop writing soon, you’ll find that your wip is full of only. I wish I could only write a sentence without only. Lol. Ah, the joys of editing. And you’re right that there is also something satisfying about finding the perfect words. Happy Writing, my friend. 🙂
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Oh D., only you ! ❤️❤️
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I’m glad you enjoyed my silly little visit by the Word Police. They really do make me go through every word and my eyeballs really do shrivel. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and have a marvelous day! ❤
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This was funny and helpful!
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And you don’t need it, Lynn. Your writing is wonderful just the way it is. You’re a natural.
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You are so kind!!!
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I bow to your superior word knowledge and humor… had me laughing!!!🥂😊
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Thanks. It’s a bit of a silly post, but I really do go through this process! And it really does take weeks! Ugh. Thanks for stopping by to read and Happy Writing!
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Likewise🌿
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Ugh! The word police! They always thunk me on the head if I use adverbs and passive voice. Now I have a long list of new words to look for! And people say writing is easy. They have obviously (oops an adverb) not had encounters with the word police!! So wonderful to have you back from your break. ❤️
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You can use adverbs! Just not all the time. 😀 Thanks for visiting, my friend. I’m slowly (adverb) catching up! Ha ha.
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Yes, adverbs used sparingly are allowed. 😉
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