Last week I posted an article about word clouds and how you can use them to spot overused words.
One of the comments, from a dear friend and fantastic author, was this:
Ok, 300 – 400 times out of 80,000+ words? That’s like what, .005% of your words are the same? seriously woman? You crack me up.
It got me thinking. “Am I crazy?”
Well yes. Just ask my kids.
But also, no.
I don’t look at 400 occurrences as .005% of the words being the same. My mind calculates the problem as “that word appears at least once a page”.
But, you might say, the words won’t be on EVERY page. Yes. This is true. However, that means if I skip one page, there might be a page somewhere that has the overused word twice in it. Even worse if there are places where the word might appear more than twice on a page.
And in my worst nightmares, something like this happens. This is an actual screenshot of a page in on of my manuscripts, pre-editing.
.
Here is the thing: Repetitive use of a word stands out to the reader. Especially when the words appear close together.
As a rule, I try not to use a word more than once every ten pages.
Well, that’s what I shoot for. It doesn’t always happen. If I can’t do ten pages (and I try very hard to hit this mark) I try to not repeat in less than five pages.
On rare occasion, I do go less. But 5-10 pages is what I shoot for.
Is it crazy?
It can take me a week to get rid of a very frequently used word. Sometimes when I’m doing this kind of edit I want to give up and not care… but the end product is unbelievably worth it. I find myself rethinking paragraphs. I find new and interesting ways to describe things. Being this detail oriented takes my writing to a whole new level.
Crazy? Yes.
But for me, it’s a good kind of crazy.
Jennifer M Eaton 
Yes, ma’am. You are a good kind of crazy AND an exceptional role model for the hard work that goes into getting your story into publishable shape.
It’s a lot more work than I think most people realize
Wow, I need to look into these programs. I have a tendency to overuse favorite words, and would love to find a better way of catching them. What makes me crazy is when I read a published book and begin to notice repetitive words or phrases. Most recently – a book where someone rolled their eyes every couple of pages. Don’t editors watch for stuff like that?
They are supposed to, but sometimes what sticks out to one person does not get “caught” by another. That’s why I love having 6+ beta readers if I can get them. This “water” problem was actually pointed out by a beta reader. I hadn’t noticed and it was not one of the “normal” words on my radar.
Not crazy at all! I’ve been using wordle for the same thing. I even found a program online that searches for repetitive words right next to each other. It’s something that I think every writer has to look out for.
Hi Krista! What online program do you use?
This ‘anal’ habit is something I learned from you, Jennifer, and I thank you. I haven’t dragged out my WIP MS lately, but anytime I write, I try to stay aware. 🙂
It’s a good thing to keep in mind, Tess. I find most words I am wary of, but by trying “not” to use some words, I always overuse others. [smacks head]
Yeah, what’s w.i.t.h. that? I’m horrified when I cut out one but drag out another. *loud, drawn out sigh*
I didn’t realize I was crazy! I guess that means my editor (who gives a list of words to check for overuse) is crazy too? Seriously though, there is nothing crazy about this – it’s good editing. We all have word-tics and get into word ruts. I’d say it’s crazy not to do it (or just plain lazy – especially when most word-processing apps make it so easy – Scrivener has a word-usage frequency report built in!)
Hi Darcy! Yes, it is important, but I can easily see why many people don’t like to do it to the degree that I do. It’s hard, and really, really time consuming. Yes, I have spent an entire week of my writing time getting used to just one horrible overused word. It’s soooo hard!