Repetition When You Write

 

When proofreading, search for repetition of words and also of ideas. When I'm writing, I don't always catch those repetitive areas, but when I'm reading someone else's work while doing a critique, they stand out like a lighthouse beam in the fog. 

It's a common problem, especially for newer writers, but even the old pros commit this error. Especially in a first draft. That's why proofreading is so important in that initial effort. You have time to fix those small errors. Did you notice that I used the word 'first' in this paragraph, and I could easily have used it again in the next sentence. Instead, I chose to use 'initial' which means the same thing. 

Never underestimate your readers. They notice muffs like repetition of words or repeating the same idea one paragraph later. When you duplicate an idea close to the first time you wrote it, you're probably doing one of two things:  not giving your readers credit for 'getting it' the first time OR not knowing what to say next, so you repeat the gist of what you have already said, not word for word but it's the same thought. (Note: I do some of that in my posts to make a point quite clear, but in a fiction piece, or an essay, you should watch carefully for this problem.)

What you can do to remedy the problem:

A. Vary sentence structure. Using the same way to begin a sentence over and over becomes boring for your reader. If you say 'She was going to the store.' then follow with 'She was looking for ingredients for a new recipe.' and next say 'She was moving quickly to the produce section.' Every one of those sentences in the same paragraph begins with 'She was...' How blah is that?

B.  Use a thesaurus to help you find synonyms so that you don't change the meaning, but you also do not replicate the same word two or three times in one paragraph. 

C.  Vary a name with a pronoun. If my character's name is Henrietta, and I use her name in every sentence in one paragraph, it becomes slightly overwhelming. Instead, use the pronoun 'she' or 'her' in some sentences to give the reader a break.

D.  Don't use a lot of words when one or a few will convey the same message. Those 'unnecessary' words can end up being repetitious, too. If you say, "Jordy really liked his English teacher, but he really wasn't into reading Shakespeare, and he really struggled writing the essay assigned." You can remove every one of those 'really' words and not lose the meaning of the sentence, plus not annoy your reader. 

E.  Make your point once and move on. If you proofread and discover that you've repeated an idea, rewrite the paragraph or more if you have said the same thing more than once. Put that thought into one or two sentences and then move on. 

The benefits of ridding your first draft, or the final one, of repetition, is that you will have a stronger piece of writing and will also please your readers. You can't eliminate 100% of repeating words, but you can definitely remedy a lot.