Thursday, March 28, 2013

Say it Again?

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?

35 comments:

Melissa said...

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. :)

JeffO said...

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.

Charmaine Clancy said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

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! :)

mshatch said...

I find that in my first drafts, too and I think to myself, hmm, I wonder why I said the same thing twice? Duh!

Kristi said...

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...

A said...

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 :-)

nutschell said...

hopping on over to check out your post :)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I'm better at spotting my redundancies during my first draft than I used to be.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

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! :)

DMS said...

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

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Mel!

Jess - thanks! I'm always finding my redundancies - think I could edit forever!

Romance Reader said...

A great post at Revising & Editing Jemi!

~Nas~

Jen said...

Hi Jemi! So good to "see" you again! Forgive my lack of visiting! Slowly but surely I'm getting back into the swing of blogging. I'm sure the A-Z Challenge will help that!

Enjoy your weekend! Off to check out your guest post!

Cheers,
Jen

Jemi Fraser said...

Jen - hi!! Nice to see you too! :)

Rosalind Adam said...

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!

Jemi Fraser said...

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!

Dianne K. Salerni said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

Dianne - that's a great way to look at it! No pressure in the draft - then surgical precision in the edits. Love it! :)

Searching for the Story said...

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!

Jemi Fraser said...

Ethan - I know! I've kept a few college papers just for laughs. It's fun to see how far we've come! :)

Anonymous said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

Medeia - thanks! My crit buddies are gold for helping me find them!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

Tricia - I never print anything out, but maybe I should try that!

Beth said...

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.

Jemi Fraser said...

Beth - I'm so thankful for my crit buddies - they're pure gold! :)

Unknown said...

I've got better at recognizing when I should press the delete key!

Jemi Fraser said...

Wendy - me too! It feels good to spot those phrases! :)

Maria said...

Hi Jemi,

I was over there yesterday and I've topped by here today.

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Maria - you're everywhere!! :)

cleemckenzie said...

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.

nutschell said...

i'm hopping on over to check out your post!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Jemi Fraser said...

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!! :)