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weasel words
ever since a beta brought it to my attention about a year ago, i have been more conscious of my own tendency to use the particular phrase "a little" way too much in my own writing. i manage to edit it out again as i go along for the most part, now.
now i'm noticing that the roughest drafts i produce have this problem even more seriously: someone needs go to through everything i write with a pointy stick or a whip or a cane or something and chase out every instance of weasel phrases like "sort of", "kind of", "a little", "a bit", "rather"*cough* and "or something", and in many cases also "really" and "very". i mean, fortunately i can do it myself, but i'm appalled at how much of it gets into the rough draft. for that matter, i'm appalled at the thought of how much of this kind of sloppiness i missed before ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
isilya inadvertently sensitised me to it.
i think it's sort of the equivalent of a verbal tic, probably a holdover from the way i talk. example: "the only response to his last question was a shamefully inarticulate sort of purring hum" - what is 'sort of' doing there? nothing. it's completely meaningless. it might as well be "like" or "um", for all the good it does.
and while "really" and "very" are supposedly intensifying adverbs while the others are the opposite, in the text most of the time they serve the exact same purpose (ie, none) and probably come from the same place - some kind of hesitation in me when i'm composing the sentence. and usually they do the same thing - make the sentence weaker.
now i'm noticing that the roughest drafts i produce have this problem even more seriously: someone needs go to through everything i write with a pointy stick or a whip or a cane or something and chase out every instance of weasel phrases like "sort of", "kind of", "a little", "a bit", "rather"
isilya inadvertently sensitised me to it. i think it's sort of the equivalent of a verbal tic, probably a holdover from the way i talk. example: "the only response to his last question was a shamefully inarticulate sort of purring hum" - what is 'sort of' doing there? nothing. it's completely meaningless. it might as well be "like" or "um", for all the good it does.
and while "really" and "very" are supposedly intensifying adverbs while the others are the opposite, in the text most of the time they serve the exact same purpose (ie, none) and probably come from the same place - some kind of hesitation in me when i'm composing the sentence. and usually they do the same thing - make the sentence weaker.
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But, uh, on a similar thread, I have 2,000 words of Tezuryo in Word right now, and I think I finally know what I'm doing, and it's trundling along towards the end quite nicely. But... there's... sex and stuff in it, and it's not just vaguely-described, either, and most definitely not of a R rating and... can I send it to you when I'm done because it's so long since I've written anything like this, I'm sort of flapping my hands and squeaking.
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Sometimes those words serve a purpose in my writing, though. I have no clue whether it works for my readers or not, but I do have a reason for it. For instance, if I'm writing from Momoshiro's point of view, I include some of those because that's the way I tend to think that he thinks. If I want a fic to be nice and smooth and have a literary feel to it, then I eliminate those words and phrases. If I want it to have more of a down-to-earth, stream of consciousness feeling, I tend to use them. Just a thought, and I'm sorry for rambling. :)
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still, i am certainly firmly a proponent of making your own narrative voice echo the pov character's, to keep the pov deep and very firm, and naturally any tics which fit the character are a part of that. although it's still important to police myself so i don't go overboard, those parts carry a certain exemption. :)
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i don't begrudge anyone improving themselves, but i just thought you should know that these weasel words make your fics so unique, and i love them. :)
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Er. Yeah. I wish it were not 3am where you are right now ;o;
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i have to start getting up on time because classes start next week and i'll have them at 10 am mon-thu.
but don't worry - of course i don't eliminate all of them. of course any peculiarity gives the writing a little stylisation, but stylisation is both something to be cultivated and something to be wary of it. the style being too thick isn't desireable in all circumstances, and in those it's easy to go overboard with it. it all depends on how deep the point of view is and the character and what's going on with the story and whatnot.
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