I recently reviewed a piece of text and noticed the writer used the same word multiple times — sometimes in the same paragraph.
Example:
“I decided to use the sedan today so we would have room for Granny. Normally, I drive a fiery red sports car to work and back. After we visited the animals at the zoo we stopped by the ice cream shop where everyone decided on fudge ice cream.”
Could another word be used, or could you eliminate the repetitive word?
“I used the sedan today so we would have room for Granny. Normally, I drive a fiery red sports car to work and back. After we visited the animals at the zoo, we stopped by the ice cream shop where everyone decided on fudge ice cream.”
“I decided to use the sedan today so we would have room for Granny. Normally, I drive a fiery red sports car to work and back. After we visited the animals at the zoo, we stopped by the ice cream shop where everyone enjoyed fudge ice cream.”
Use Find and Replace in your work to check for overly used words. My computer highlights the word I type into the search bar and highlights all the places where that particular word is used. I can make changes.
I always check for “that” because I know it is one word I use it too much. Quite honestly, most of the time it is not needed.
If you see “echo words,” make a change. Your story will flow better, and you are expanding the readers’ vocabulary!
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