How to Make a Character that Doesn't Suck

4. 7 Words to Avoid and How Using a Thesaurus Can Change Your World

Here's me being straight up: I am guilty of using these words a lot and I work on it constantly through editing and proofreading as well as having other people read through my writing.

1. Very

Most people find it very annoying when someone uses this word very often to describe things that are very easy to find other words for.

That was painful to write.

Literally, just go on Thesaurus.com or something and type in the phrase. I can pretty much guarantee you'll find a better word. A lot of people say it's lazy writing and it can be. What I do on occasion is when I don't feel like finding the right word I'll highlight, underline, or bold whatever two words it is to find a different word later. Simple, and I don't have to spend half an hour wracking my brain to find a good word for whatever it is I'm describing.

2. Extremely/ Really

I put these two together because they are similar to using 'very'. Get a thesaurus. Your readers will thank you. 

3. Some/Slightly

These can be good words. The reason they're on this list is that more often than not, they're overused.

4. Said

This makes writing seem repetitive, and once again there can be so much more expression. Add an adjective or an adverb, or scrap the word completely and use something else. 

Ex. She spoke harshly. 

He grumbled.

You can even cut it out and not have to use any word of the same type! 

Ex. "So what?" They both glanced at each other uncomfortably.

(Sidenote: it isn't a bad word, but sprinkle in some variety)

5. Literally

It is just as annoying as someone saying it constantly. I want to cry every time I see it used for emphasis. It should be used for its intended purpose. 

6. Just

I did use this when explaining the previous word, mostly to get my point across. Go back and read the sentence without 'just'. Does it sound the same? If yes, it can be cut. If no, then it can stay. It's an extra word that serves little purpose in the majority of sentences that I see it in. 

7. Excessive Cursing

I feel like I shouldn't have this since it's more like a collection of words but here we go. Cursing doesn't need to be every other word, in every other situation. To most readers, it can be a huge turn-off. 

~

A good service that I really enjoy using is Grammarly. It picks up a lot of things that other proofreading software doesn't, and even the free version is super helpful. It tells me when my commas aren't needed (or if they are) and much more than the standard spellcheck that comes with programs like Word. They even have it on Google Docs now. 

(I am in no way sponsored by this company, they're just a really good resource.)