Leaning on the wrong words

When I first started writing with an eye toward publication, I made a mistake that many, many new writers make – I thought every motion my characters made needed to be spelled out. Every turn, every nod, every blink. My characters shrugged so often that I’m surprised none of them needed a massage to loosen their poor necks. And the eye rolling? Y’all, it’s a wonder their eyes didn’t end up stuck in the backs of their heads (as my Southern mama warned me would happen.)

Now that I’m an editor, one part of my job is looking out for what we call ‘crutch’ words. These are words a writer depends on, even though they may not add any substance to the work. Shrugging and eye rolling were two of my crutches back in my early days, but crutches can be almost anything. Many writers fall into the habit of words like really, well, just, rather, and quite. These words have use but when they appear often (especially in dialogue) they sound stilted and repetitive, and are rarely necessary. If you’re wondering whether you’re overusing any of those words, try reading your work out loud. It’s a simple test, but you’d be surprised how much it helps you hear the words you don’t need.

I can hear some of you from the other side of the screen. You’re shaking your heads and saying, “This is how people talk. I want to make my dialogue sound natural.” You’re right. When people talk to each other, they don’t tend to worry about correctness. But ordinary talk doesn’t make good reading. Think about how annoying it is when someone talks to you and inserts ‘like’ or ‘you know’ between every fourth and fifth word. It makes you want to move on and talk with someone else, doesn’t it? That’s how crutch words feel to a reader. Except when readers become annoyed, they stop reading, and that’s the last thing a writer wants to happen.

Do you know what your crutch words are? Have you ever noticed them in a work that could have used a better editing?