Writing Craft: No-No Words

Some words wave a red flag that screams NOVICE!  I know it’s impossible to not use them, but limit their use whenever possible.  Some are pretentious, and some are simply worn out. 

Over the years, I compiled this list to help tighten my writing.  Don’t worry about them in your first draft, but when you go back for editing, look for them.  Use your FIND function to highlight them. Then reread your document and try to restructure your sentences to eliminate them.

Many programs are different, especially on the newer programs, but I use Office 2003.  Go to EDIT / FIND. Then type in the word you want to find.  Hit enter and it will go to the first time that word is used.  Highlight the word and click the box to go to the next one.

You may find you use these words far too often.