My Go-To Guys
Rock stars have people.
Presidents have people.
I have . . .
well, I have people, but not in the same sense.
What I have are go-to things (for lack of a better word) that I fall back on if I'm stressed or out of time or have to make a quick choice.
For instance - for dinner it's baked chicken or chili mac. Movies - a romantic comedy. Snack - anything with tortilla chips.
Did I make you hungry?
Anyway, moving on. I just finished inputting the final editing changes on what was my work in progress. Surprise-surprise, I learned I also have go-to words. I use these words when I talk, too, so I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised I used them so often in my manuscript and didn't notice they were there.
I attacked those suckers in the same way I'd attack that bowl of guacamole up there and showed them who was boss. Not many of the greatest offenders remain. I learned a lot.
How about you?
Have you ever learned you had a go-to that you weren't aware of?
Happy Monday!
Presidents have people.
I have . . .
well, I have people, but not in the same sense.
What I have are go-to things (for lack of a better word) that I fall back on if I'm stressed or out of time or have to make a quick choice.
For instance - for dinner it's baked chicken or chili mac. Movies - a romantic comedy. Snack - anything with tortilla chips.
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| Image by prettywar-stl/Licensed Under Creative Commons |
Anyway, moving on. I just finished inputting the final editing changes on what was my work in progress. Surprise-surprise, I learned I also have go-to words. I use these words when I talk, too, so I suppose I shouldn't have been so surprised I used them so often in my manuscript and didn't notice they were there.
I attacked those suckers in the same way I'd attack that bowl of guacamole up there and showed them who was boss. Not many of the greatest offenders remain. I learned a lot.
How about you?
Have you ever learned you had a go-to that you weren't aware of?
Happy Monday!
Comments
Go-to things, any Jane Austen movie adaptation. Chocolate. Linda Ronsdat.
And, yeah, now I'm craving tortilla chips.
Yvonne.
And actually I was just reading a book and quickly found out THAT author's go to-word too. It was "furtively" of all words! LOL
I infidelity have go-to words...and scenes...and every other naughty crutch I know I shouldn't have. But they're just so addictive.
But, you're right, when I edit, I realize I have go-to words (what a great name for it) and always have to edit them out.
And now I want chips.
"Just" and "that" often need to be stripped out, as others have mentioned.
You once mentioned a nifty online tool for catching such stuff. What was it called again?
I guess we all have our favourites. Mine are 'now' and 'still'. I seem to stick them in everywhere without being aware of what I'm doing.
Anyway, my go-to words change in every draft. In my latest, my go-to is 'fill,' and in another I used the word, 'sit' too much.
The reason as to why they change as just as much a mystery to you as to me.
Anyway, my go-to words change in every draft. In my latest, my go-to is 'fill,' and in another I used the word, 'sit' too much.
The reason as to why they change as just as much a mystery to you as to me.
T
And I just (<< see!) finished reading a novel that used the word "grimaced" for almost every facial expression. I'll bet it was in there at least twenty times. Got to be distracting after awhile.
Rula - It's just so easy :)
Liza - Love onion dip.
Linda G - Little. I learned I loved little.
Yvonne - I like chocolate, but I prefer salty and savory over sweet.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Joanne - The great cosmic mind :)
Linda K - They must be addictive - that would explain it.
Delores - That settles that :)
Clarissa - I was pretty much on top of words that had been my go-tos ... and developed a whole new batch in the process. Sigh.
Emily - Learn them all :)
Alex - I LOVE my wonderful critique partners - I'll even share chips with them :)
LR - The nifty tool is AutoCrit reached here www.autocrit.com
Colette - The only shopping I like is in cool little shops.
Elspeth - Loved West Wing.
J.L. - Still is one of mine, too.
McKenzie - I have the same issues. New words take the place of those I'm watching for.
Teresa - I use some naughty words and phrases over and over, too. Need to be more creative.
Mason - Nasty creatures - LOL.
Holly - Maybe it's our characters putting those words in our head. Or maybe I need more wine :)
Lydia - I try to weed them out as I go, but still have a chunk on that last pass before I read aloud. Nice strong crutches :)
Meals - soup, nice soup but soup all the same. In summer, it's salad. Major stress- chocolate. Lesser stress - cups of tea.