Repetition in a photo like the one above is fine, but it doesn't work very well in our writing. There are two kinds of repetition to watch for. We do one unconsciously and the other for another reason.
1. Repeating Words: It is so easy to use the same words numerous times in a paragraph or on one page of a story. We do it unconsciously, and we often don't catch it when we edit our work. I sent a new children's story to my online writing group recently. The first critique that came back had one word highlighted. The word 'bridge' was highlighted in glaring yellow. I did a doubletake when I saw the many splashes of color. A bridge is an important part of the story, but seeing all those splotches made me realize I needed to do some serious revision. What's wrong with repeating a word many times? It becomes boring for the reader. A bored reader loses interest and stops reading.
I've noted many times when I'm critiquing for others that a writer will use the same pronoun multiple times in one paragraph. How many times do you want to read she or he? What about it or they? All you have to do is use a name for some of those pronouns, or say something like 'the girl' or 'the murderer.' It's not possible to eliminate all those repeated pronouns, but you can certainly change some of them. Someone once said that is a beginner's problem. Yes, it is, but seasoned writers do it, too. We're especially guilty of committing this no-no in first drafts. We need to train ourselves to catch the problem when we edit.
There are times when it is difficult to find substitutes for those repeated words. If you're writing about fishing for trout, the words fishing and trout are bound to show up a lot. It's alright to have some repetition, but work at finding ways to eliminate some of the same words. Check your thesaurus for help on words to substitute. Sometimes, rewording a sentence completely works.
Those passive verbs from the 'to be' family are pesky repeaters. A good way to get rid of some of them is to use active verbs instead in some instances. That gets rid of a lot of was, are, is words and becomes a more interesting read.
2 Repeating Information: The other kind of repetition is when we repeat something we've already told our readers in preceding paragraphs. Part of that comes from the fact that the writer doesn't give the reader credit for 'getting it,' so he/she says it again but maybe in different words. The other reason it happens is that we get lazy. Can't think of something new, then go ahead and repeat part of what you wrote in the preceding paragraphs.
I've seen many critiques that pinpoint this problem. The critiquing person will say something like Not necessary. You already told us this. Or We know this; you don't have to say it again.
When we realize that we're giving the same information multiple times, we need to start cutting. If writers send a sub with the plea to help cut some words, that they are over the limit, it becomes easy to get to the wanted word count when you eliminate those areas that have been said before, even if they were given to the reader in different words.
If you write in a Word document, there are ways to help you edit. One place allows the writer to put in a word, and it will then be highlighted in the entire document. You'll know immediately where you need to revise. You can google how and where to do this on a Word document or on whatever program you use for your writing. Your own eye will catch many if you take the time to look for the repetitious areas.
Now, I'm sure some of my readers today will start looking through my post to see how many times I used a word. You'll find some because it's pretty impossible to write without a little repeating. Your aim is to reduce it as much as possible. Using the same word three paragraphs apart is not a problem. When you do it 6 times in one paragraph, it's trouble. Just use some common sense.
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