You cannot imagine how useful I found the article, Very and Other Useless Words to Erase Forever from writerscircle.com. The overused words listed in it are:
- Very/really
- Suddenly
- Amazing/awesome
- That
- Started
This taught me that I really, really have a problem with my manuscript. No, really. I swear, really.
It’s important to realize that the first draft is going to be the worst version of your book. I’m writing a space opera, so it’s got lotsa words in it, but I had no idea how many of them were useless words.
You see, I write a little, read, reflect, then write some more. That’s just my way. I spent 20 years as a technical writer, so I thought my creative writing skills would still follow the rules of best practices. After reading this article, I discovered that I know how to follow editing rules for most technical writing situations, but not so much for the book-writin’. In fact, I went through the list of useless words in this article and was shocked to find out how many times I included them. My worst culprit was really. It really, really was. In fact, I think I should attach a device to my temples that will give me an electric shock every time I write really again. (Really—BUZZZZ!) It’s embarrassing to admit, but really appeared in my unfinished manuscript hundreds of times.
We writers need to remember that [editors] are primarily here to help us and not criticize us.
After I stopped blushing over my atrocious skills, I went through the manuscript and corrected the sentences. You know what? Rewriting them made them so slick. It was just like how editors’ comments back in the day made my technical writing tighter and easier to read. I have the greatest respect for editors. They actually love the written word and want it to look its best. We writers need to remember that they are primarily here to help and to not criticize us.
I still don’t know if I’m going the traditional publishing route or if I’ll forge on as an indie author. I might lean toward the latter option because I’d like to walk through each step of the writing process to keep learning best practices and to understand what makes a professional product. (Yes, my artist’s hat just flew off, replaced by my businesswoman’s fedora.)
Part of my education is to eat humble pie with two forks at once, so I can take constructive advice. I want my chapters to sing. If you don’t like my book, I want it to be because it’s not to your taste, not because it seems amateurish and rushed.
If you’re writing your first novel, or your 20th, take a peek at this article to see how well you score. It’s OK, you don’t have to tell me the results. And if you do, I really, really, really, really, promise not to breathe a word. Not even a useless word. 😉
Cait Gordon has been a senior technical writer in high tech and government organizations. She is currently a Web Developer consultant for Dynamic Canvas Inc., and assistant to the Executive Director at H’Art of Ottawa.
I gave my first reading. Sort of. There was only an audience of four, and I was related to them, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. We went to see our parents for Easter, hubster and I, and Bruce suggested that I read the first chapter of my book after supper. I was incredibly nervous. My mother-in-law and my parents are in their 70s, and not really readers of fantasy or bonker-silly fantasy, like I’m writing. You would think that because it was family, I’d be relaxed, but I wasn’t. I was nearly apoplectic.
Sometimes I read my work out loud just after I’ve composed some dialogue or a paragraph I’m unsure of, but when I really want to sanity-check my work, I let Celia read to me. Celia is the nickname I give to the English-accented voice on my Google phone. I convert my MS Word document to an epub format, then use the Read Aloud feature on Google Play Books. 
But in my upcoming book, one of my characters has a pink smartwatch and it can do different things, like making annoying sounds that wake people up at night. I decided that I wanted one in real life. I also wanted it to be pink. So, I looked for the Pebble in pink, but they were sold out of their special edition ones. Then I looked at Amazon, and found a really adorable one. It makes calls, has an SMS feature, and even takes photos and videos. It was really cool and it was pink. It wasn’t a known brand, it was inexpensive, and I was excited about getting it.
So, a couple of days ago, I went back to the beginning of my manuscript and started to read it again. I got a few chapters in and totally freaked out. I mean, I went into a state of paler-than-white panic and screamed inside myself, “MY WRITING IS CRAP! MY BOOK IS CRAP! I’M A TERRIBLE WRITER!”
Cait Gordon—author and editor 