For example, She felt really sad, packs a lot more punch when written as, She was devastated, alternatively, you can show the emotion, She crumbled to her knees. Whenever these words appear in a sentence, you can usually rewrite it to better effect. Some key filter words to be on the lookout for are: really, very, just, began, started, sudden, see, look, hear, wonder, feel and think. You may think that removing Lauren’s POV is pretty insignificant in the face of an entire manuscript, but filter words can quickly add up, especially if you’re writing a 150 000 word epic fantasy!Ĭutting filter words will not only have a huge impact on your word count, it will also improve the quality of your prose. This description has greater impact when written as Anthony opened the door. If you are writing in close third person, a common issue is having your main character narrate the actions of another character.įor example, Lauren saw Anthony open the door. Cut filter wordsįilter words are unnecessary words that act as a barrier between the reader and the story’s action. Here are some of the ways you can trim down your manuscript to improve into overall readability and engagement factor. Our ultimate goal as a storyteller is simple: keep the reader reading. A drawn out and sloppy story won’t.īy cutting filter words, tightening sentences, reducing dialogue tags and combining two or more weak characters or scenes together, your writing will become precise, snappy and attention-grabbing. Whether you are an underwriter or an overwriter, the quality of your prose is dependent upon your ability to provide enough information for the reader to comprehend the story, but not so much information that they become bogged down in detail.Ī trim and purposeful story will engage readers. So, what problem areas should writers look for when trimming down their manuscript? In this article, author and YouTuber Tara East gives us some tips.Ī thin first draft may be the product of underwriting, including too little detail or action, and a bloated manuscript may be the result of overwriting, including too much! The following five tips are aimed at overwriters, but any manuscript could be improved through these suggestions. However, we sometimes make the mistake of including too much! We love to create worlds and characters for readers to get lost in.
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