So That Was Just Really Like Up and Very Down

So, that was just really like up and very down

I’ve decided a long time ago that I despise editing.  I hate cutting out passages I love and I hate adjusting commas and fixing passive sentences.  Editing takes up to much time and stops me from working on other projects, which makes me one grumpy writer. It’s taken a while but I’ve found a solution to my dilemma.

I listened to a podcast with Harlan Coben regarding his writing style.  He writes his books from cover to cover and has very little editing needed with each book. Genius at play – I tell you.  As he is a master at plot twists, I couldn’t believe this to be true because so much happens in his novels.  Since he is a pantser, like me, I couldn’t believe for one second that he’d be able to keep all the twists and turns in his head without extensive plotting and editing.  He explained that he writes and rewrites every page, every sentence, until he feels it is right.  I’m no dummy, if he’s a master you need to mimic what works and run.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been working to get my writing fluidity back to normal.  I feel what I’m writing is crap.  I second-guess everything.  I read and reread, write, rewrite, rinse and repeat.  It’s a slow process but I’m establishing better habits with this process.  The prominent thing that holds me up are junk words such as, so that was just really like up and very down.

Every time I find myself tapping out those words, I stop completely and ask myself if it’s necessary to have it in that particular sentence.  I begin to think of other ways to say what I want without jeopardizing the continuity of the writing.  What I’m finding is more descriptive with more action packed paragraphs.  My story is breathing more and becoming much more vivid.  I’m treating this as a word game, which challenges me as a writer, but gives me motivation to work smarter rather than harder.  I’m eliminating what I hope will be a thousand rounds of edits and providing myself a mental challenge.

My nemesis at the moment is “was” because I want to put it in every sentence.  In my current chapter, which is only half written; I’ve been able to eliminate all but two instances of the word.  I’m at the point now where I type it out and immediately delete and rewrite.  Words such as very and really are easier to spot and even easier to remove because they truly don’t change the sentence, the just disrupt flow.

What are your junk words?  What do you find yourself over using?  What strategies do you have to eliminate your junk words?