weasel words

[cimorene]

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 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.

Comments

[cimness.livejournal.com]

my dad once conveyed to me a piece of advice which was uttered by a professional science fiction writer whom i admire, but which i paraphrase cause i can't remember the quote. the gist is that the things you're the most personally fond of in your own writing are the most dangerous, and it's those which you should be the most most ruthless about cutting out in the editing stage. when he first told me this i was only nineteen and hadn't been writing seriously for very many years, so i thought he was a little insane, and for the most part ignored him. it was only as time passed and i came to cringe in embarrassment when looking back on stories i'd written in the past that i realised i believe he is right - the things i love the most at the time are the things i go overboard on and subsequently outgrow. when my head is cooler (ie when my infatuation passes a year later or so), i tend to consider them in the nature of frivolous excess or unnecessary fat. that doesn't actually mean every instance should be cut out - just that my policy is to keep fewer of them than i like.

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. :)