6 Words That Are Making Your Writing Weak & You Need to Cut From Your Novel // We all want to become a better writer. We want readers to feel an impact from our stories, and better yet, feel like they are living within the pages of our books. But what if I told you that feeling started at the sentence level? That something as simple as an extra word can pull a reader from your book? Today we're talking about six filler and filter words that you'll want to cut from your writing in order to have a more impactful story.
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IN THIS VIDEO:
0:00 – Intro
1:10 – What is a filler word?
1:30 – What is a filter word?
2:49 – Word to remove from your novel
8:36 – How to easily remove these words from your novel
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Mandi Lynn published her first novel when she was seventeen. The author of multiple books, Mandi spends her days continuing to write and creating YouTube videos to help other writers achieve their dreams of seeing their books published. Mandi is the owner of Stone Ridge Books, a company that works to help authors bring their books to life through cover design and digital book marketing. She is also the creator of The Book Launch Planner, a planner designed to help authors publish and market their books. When she’s not creating, you can find Mandi exploring her backyard or getting lost in the woods.
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Thank you, Mahdi Lynn! A needed reminder.
Just, and, really, very, so are the filter words I write the most
Thank you so much!! I just realized my first chapter has ‘just’, ‘seems’, and ‘really’ in it–
Awesome advice! Great content as always.
‘that’ is my filler word I need to watch out for.
Years ago I came across a few authors who emphasised show don’t tell when writing! Very good advice!
THANKYOU! This is great!
I’m writing a book and this was helpful, thank you!
Years ago I heard someone say “when a person begins with ‘honestly’ it makes me wonder about the rest of what they say” and it always stuck with me.
Like when someone says “If I’m being perfectly honest”. Have they not been honest up until now?
But, then, however, just,
@ Honestly? Yes.
I find myself using ‘that’ or a phrase with ‘about’ too much. Rewording sentences to get around these is good practice for me.
Adverbs were my weakness in my first book. I think I have a handle on them, though. 🤞I think I used adverbs because I wasn’t as good at describing the scene.
I find myself using “at that moment” way too often. I now need to go through my manuscript and start eliminating. (It sounded good at the time.)
I was guilty of just. I thought it was adding to my story. It wasn’t. I still use that word for dialogue because people use filler words all the time when they talk.
I was guilty of passive or weak phrasing like, ‘this thing started to happen,’ or ‘she could see what was going on.’
These were things I didn’t catch until I read through it again a few days later. There were very few instances where I needed to say something started to happen. 9/10 I could say something happened and that was fine. Same with saying what a character could see. Write they saw it, or even better, describe what they see (if it’s important).
Thanks!
You’re welcome! I hope it helps!
ORIGINAL: Emma can hear the birds singing.
REWRITTEN: The birds are singing.
REVERTED TO ORIGINAL [referencing Emily’s newfound ability to hear after ear surgery]: Emma can hear the birds singing.
Context is always key when it comes to writing.
You get to the point & do not belabor the issue. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
I love this format more and more with each new video. They’re concise and easy to follow with the examples on screen, and are great resources for newbie writers. I appreciate them as a refresher course. Even though I’m mostly mindful of filler/filter words, they still slip through. It’s good to be reminded of the basics.
Yay! Love to hear it! Thank you so much!
Excellent video, Mandi! I am working on my tenth book, and I have developed several pet peeves in my experience as a writer. This video addresses my #1 peeve. I have found that when I’m on a roll in my writing, that’s when I am the most likely to latch on to a word and wear it out. I see a similar problem with some of the authors I frequently read. I have about 15 or 20 favorite authors, and they’re a roughly equal mix of male vs. female. There is no contest in the most overused word category, especially among female authors. That word is “gaze.” I’m thinking of one woman right now who will use that word no fewer than 200 times in a 70,000-word novel. It distracts the reader something awful to be this redundant, and thoughts go through my head like, “Does this lady not own a thesaurus?” It makes the author look lazy or amateurish. Anyway, it’s my reading (and my overly critical thinking while I’m reading) that has sharpened my writing skills. This video has given me a number of words to add to my list of potential “trap words.” Thanks again, Mandi! Great work!
Excellent video! MS Word search feature is good for hunting filler and filter words.
_Honestly_ , I _really_ use the word “really” _really_ _very_ much.