The dreaded words

[Guest]

As I attempt to scrub my manuscript of the 43 or so "dreaded" words, I've come to realize (which is one of the dreaded words), sometimes (another one) the re-write doesn't work nearly (another one) as well.

The good news is they comprise 1.7% of the overall word count. The bad news is there's still 1.7%. The only viable solution I can figure out is to take my manuscript to the beach and contemplate my failure sipping margaritas as a cabana boy fans me with palm fronds.

Does anyone have a better suggestion?

[Tim]

Search and replace

[Melissa]

I use the find function and work on one word at a time. I see if I can rewrite that section in a more concise way, or decide to leave it. Sometimes, those words need to stay.

[Aria]

I hope you’re not cutting words from your manuscript, just because someone said so in an article. The guy lost me at: “-cut-from-your-writing-immediately”

If you struggle so much to find replacements, maybe there is a reason. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. But if you must, I wish you a lot of patience. What you replied to someone on here earlier, is very true. Search and replace is great, but it does mess up with your formatting. You end up having to check the whole thing, anyway. Maybe swap the margaritas with the heavy stuff.