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Awkward Words [1]

Fiction [2]
8.31.22

In a recent thread on Twitter [3], author Rebecca Makkai begins a discussion on words that make prose awkward in fiction, starting with the use of “as” in a sentence such as: “‘Hey there,’ I said as I got up as I turned on the lights.’” Other awkward words Makkai lists include “temporal hinge words” like “after” and “while,” the overuse of “that” in a sentence, and the use of gerunds, especially as dialogue modifiers. The last tip Makkai offers is a useful one: “I promise you, if you control + F through your work just on the words ‘as’ and ‘that’ and take out 90% of them, you’ll be so happy.” Try using this advice to revise a draft of a short story you’re working on. Remove some of the narrative devices listed in Makkai’s tweets and see how the rhythm of your story’s language changes.


Source URL:https://www.pw.org/content/awkward_words

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/content/awkward_words [2] https://www.pw.org/genre/fiction [3] https://twitter.com/rebeccamakkai/status/1556355022094569472