Hello,

I am working on cutting down my novel since it expanded to 108,000 words and one editor told me that is way too big for a first time author.  So, after working so hard to write and checking my word count, I need to cut down. Last night, I cut one chapter and some scenes.

Today, I am working on eliminating overused words.
Rebecca Andrews wrote: The Millennium Phrase Book.
Her website is here:
http://www.rebeccaandrews.net


She made a list of words that are overused.  I use the search and find for this in MS Word.

Here are the words she suggests to delete.

about                 all                        almost
always              eagerly                 every
finally               frequently            got
just                   merely                  nearly
need                 never                    not
often                only                      so
that                   then                      very

These words can be removed in most cases.
although               appeared                at least
began                    even                       felt
figured                  for a moment         heard
if nothing else       in spite of              perhaps
quite                       rather                    realized
really                      saw                       seemed
sort of                     started                  suddenly
in fact that

You can remove And, But or While from the beginning of a sentence.

I cut many words so far.  Cutting is worse than writing.

Here is a Happy Friday picture.