This is a pretty good way of solving the problem of repetitive writing, or using the same word too often, and it includes a few practical examples of how to solve it, using a scene from one of my novels.
Firstly, how do we define ‘too often?’
Is it repeating the same word in the next few words, or in the next sentence, or in the next paragraph, or what?
Probably everyone has their own ideas about this.
Some people might be irritated if they see the same word used repetitively a few words later.
This is reasonable.
But if they are irritated when they see the same word repeated in the next sentence, or in the next paragraph, it isn’t reasonable, it’s nit picking.
Obviously, this is a personal view.
Anyway, this is how I solved the problem.
It’s a scene from my novel ‘Rebel Liar’ and the problem was, repetitive use of the word ‘and.’
Let me elaborate.
A woman, a plantation owner during the American Civil War era, is painting her plantation home.
Quote.
‘She put the paint brush down and looked at her home thoughtfully, and realised that she had not quite captured the afternoon sunlight on one of the columns.’
This is repetitive use of the word ‘and.’
Or maybe I’m nit picking, lol.
What happens if we change the second ‘and’ for ‘then?’
Let’s take a look at it.
‘She put the paint brush down and looked at her home thoughtfully, then realised that she had not quite captured the afternoon sunlight on one of the columns.’
What happens if we use another ‘and’ after ‘then?’
Let’s look at it.
‘She put the paint brush down and looked at her home thoughtfully, then realised that she had not quite captured the afternoon sunlight on one of the columns, and decided to start again.’
This is fine, because the second ‘and’ is some distance away from the first ‘and.’
I don’t like to use the word ‘then’ too often, for a reason which I’ll explain in another article.
But it can be pretty useful, if you want to avoid repetitious writing.