word variety
Whenever I write a longer piece of text and the same term comes up more than once, I have to change one of the words so I don’t get too much of the same words in a paragraph.
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20 Responses to “word variety”
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That’s just called good writing.
(PS – It’s “… too many of the same words in a paragraph.”
Sarah’s right. If there was a “right-meter” going from left to right and left would mean she wasn’t right and the more right it went the more right she was, she would be all the way to the right meaning she was totally right. This definitely is not a neurosis or a ritual or a rite.It’s just the way you write, right? Am I right? I’m right. And dammit, it’s my right to be right about non-rites when it comes how you write.
I do this too. I will rewrite things as much as is necessary to not have repeats. And I hate to read things where words are overused: we’re studying Frankenstein in English, and when Shelley uses the same word twice within the space of even several pages, it really annoys me.
Karim – your comment is amazing! ♥
Karim – love it!
Karim is made of win and so is his name!
I was going to comment and say that it’s just good writing, but I guess it has already been mentioned! All writers, professional or not, should strive for word variety in their sentences.
I do the same thing!
That’s not odd – that’s good writing. I was taught from very young by teachers not to use the same word too often in a paragraph, letter or story. Either that or I had neurotic teachers????
Using the same words too often is redundancy. It’s boring and lazy writing. Not THAT neurotic. Keep up the good work!
I do the same thing,but I also do it with words that rhyme.
Yeah, not a neurosis, just not bad writing.
I hate it when an author for some reason has a particular fondness for a relatively uncommon word and uses it like ten times in the same book. I remember one of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books had the word “eschew” in it way too many times. It drove me crazy.
I read the Pendragon series forever ago and it brought my piss to a boil whenever the author used the word “craggy”. I swear, it appeared several times in every book…
@Abbie I know! I’m reading a book right now where the author has written “unceremoniously” SO MANY TIMES.
Unprecedented. Under the bus. Take a listen. “-gate” for every scandal. Awesome.
I do this also, but only because of AP English is High School. Your teacher drills it into your head. On top of that, you ALSO have to write 3 essays (about different things) within two hours. I find it hard to write a paper when I have more than a week to do it.
this is called redundancy. it drives me crazy when authors get stuck on one word and have to beat it to death. makes me want to put the book away and not finish.
I absolutely cannot have words that rhyme in a sentence. It bugs me until I change it to something that sounds good.
I have my own neurosis about this one: I’m a writer (as in, I have a degree in it, and I occasionally get paid to do it), so I know how much redundancy sucks and how word variety can spice up a paragraph. But I HATE IT when a teacher or by-the-book person shoots me down for repeating a particular word when it’s my goal to provide the reader’s brain a clear map for understanding my point. And since, yes, I’m neurotic too, I think about EVERY WORD. (I once had a poetry teacher question my use of “is” in a discussion group. I shot her down before the discussion could start so I didn’t blow a gasket.)
(Obviously I don’t mind starting sentences with conjunctions. Really.)
that’s just good writing
sometimes it takes me up to 20 minutes to find the right word to replace the repeated word.