I'm over at Revising & Editing today talking about Redundancies. I hope you'll pop over to join the discussion!
This is something I have a problem with in First Draft Writing. I had great difficulty recognizing this as a problem when I first started writing a few years ago. I felt more like I was reinforcing the idea rather than irritating the reader. Thankfully I'm finding it easier to spot in my drafts these days.
How about you? What's something you've gotten better at?
34 comments:
There are so many things we learn along the way, aren't there? I cringe now when I read my first attempts at fiction. LOL
Thanks for visiting my blog. :)
What I find interesting is how quickly I find something like this when I'm doing my read-through. I might come across a passage in Chapter 1 that I'll think, "Hey, didn't I write almost the exact same thing somewhere else?" and sure enough, I'll find it in chapter 3 or 4.
I've gotten better at dialogue and learning to cut down on those tags that weigh down your story. Look forward to seeing this post.
Melissa - you're very welcome! It's a little scary to look back and see some of the mistakes and style choices!
Jeff - it's such a deja-vu feeling, isn't it?
Charmaine - I used to use SO many dialogue tags! I'd forgotten about that! :)
I find that in my first drafts, too and I think to myself, hmm, I wonder why I said the same thing twice? Duh!
Oh yeah. You called it. I'm totally a first draft redundancy writer. And I like to use "just" and "that" entirely too much on round one too. :D
Heading over now...
I am not a writer, obviously, but yes, the constant fine tuning is something I am familiar with. In the end, it's what makes you a pro :-)
hopping on over to check out your post :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
I'm better at spotting my redundancies during my first draft than I used to be.
I think I've gotten better at cutting stuff from my work, no matter HOW much I "love" it, if it doesn't serve to truly advance the story. Not easy. I'm a wordy kinda gal.
Ms H - exactly - it gets worse once I've edited and can't remember what I've deleted :)
Kristi - me too! I'm getting better at those, but something else always pops up to take its place :)
Agnes - agreed - that fine tuning is so important!
Nutschell - thanks!
Susan G - I'm getting there too - but still need to work on it!
Susan FS - me too! It's hard to cut the 'good' stuff - but I'm getting better! :)
I look forward to checking out the post! I think this is something we all work on. I am always amazed when I find the same thing/phrase in different parts of my writing. :)
~Jess
Thanks Mel!
Jess - thanks! I'm always finding my redundancies - think I could edit forever!
A great post at Revising & Editing Jemi!
~Nas~
Jen - hi!! Nice to see you too! :)
I rather suspect that I'm getting worse not better at everything - possibly because I'm trying to do too much but if you don't push you won't get there! I shall pop over to read your guest post now I've done having a moan!
Rosalind - you can moan any time! I know what you mean - sometimes it feels there's so much to learn. It can be hard to see our progress!
I have given up trying to avoid redundancies in my first drafts. I figure, "go ahead and the hit that concept whenever it feels right."
Then, when I look at the completed draft, I take a strategic approach and consider where the BEST places really are -- Do I need to hit it early, for clarity? Hold it back, for suspense?
Once I've figured that out, I eliminate all the unnecessary redundancies in my second draft.
Dianne - that's a great way to look at it! No pressure in the draft - then surgical precision in the edits. Love it! :)
In the last year or two I've noticed that I've spotted this a lot better as well. I look back on some of my college papers with horror!
Ethan - I know! I've kept a few college papers just for laughs. It's fun to see how far we've come! :)
I'm better at cutting out redundancies while I'm revising and editing. My CP's praise me on my tighter writing. I'll check out the link.
Medeia - thanks! My crit buddies are gold for helping me find them!
Redundancy is huge. Sometimes it's just forgetting and sometimes it's not trusting the reader to get it, I've decided. I find that printing out the story helps to find repetiveness. Thanks for the reminder.
Tricia - I never print anything out, but maybe I should try that!
The best way to get rid of redundancies (for me) are to read what I've written out loud, and let my critique partners read it too.
Beth - I'm so thankful for my crit buddies - they're pure gold! :)
I've got better at recognizing when I should press the delete key!
Wendy - me too! It feels good to spot those phrases! :)
Hi Jemi,
I was over there yesterday and I've topped by here today.
Thanks Maria - you're everywhere!! :)
Good luck with all that redundancy clean up! I often highlight things I suspect are redundant, using different colors so I can id them easily and compare them later. Three red fonted areas means I may have written the same thing three times! Yikes.
i'm hopping on over to check out your post!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Lee - thank you! That's a good system. I find tht once I've edited a few times, I have a hard time remembering what I've decided to keep and what I've decided to toss! :)
Nutschell - thank you!! :)
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