My List of Annoying Words

When editing, I eventually get down to my 'List of Annoying Words' which I plug into my search box one by one and try to eliminate or change and, although, this is a personal thing, I thought writers who love to overwrite (like myself) might find it useful.


'Past'- why? because I seem to interchange 'passed' and 'past' on whim.

'Answered'- to replace or eliminated he/she 'answered' where possible

‘seemed’- because most often, things don’t ‘seem’ that way, they ARE that way

‘Sudden’- because any phrase that starts with ‘Suddenly’ isn’t so sudden

‘But’- I use this to start phrases all the time so I’m trying to change it where possible and evit run on’s in certain cases

‘Just then’- same reason as ‘suddenly’-plus, phrases are stronger when we’re thrown into the action

Anything ending in ‘LY’- this is mostly for my unnecessary adverbs.  See this link.

‘Sort’- It’s not a ‘sort’ of rock. It is a rock.

‘Somewhat’- again. Like being ‘somewhat’ pregnant. You either are, or you aren’t.

‘And’- to limit my adjectives. ‘It was large and magnificent’- I need to pick one. And to evit run on’s once again.

‘Found’- she found herself feeling. He found himself thinking. They found themselves standing. Why is everyone always ‘finding themselves’? ugh!

‘Said’- ‘Yes’ she said. ‘Why?’ he said. ‘Because.’ He said. Or ‘Yes.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because.’

‘Felt’- ‘She felt a rumbling in her stomach’ becomes ‘Her stomach rumbled.’

‘Begin’

‘Began’- ‘The ground began to shift. They were beginning to get frightened.’ Becomes ‘The ground shifted under their feet. They cried out, frightened.

‘Herself’- again. ‘asked herself’ ‘told herself’ ‘thought to herself’ ‘HATED herself!?’

‘Themselves’- same thing

‘Could be seen’ – ‘The boys could be seen standing by the water.’ Becomes ‘The boys stood by the water.’

These are all words that I picked up on over and over again througout my manuscript and they drove me nuts. So I hope compiling this list might help others who make the same mistakes as me. All the time.