Words you overuse in stories

[EmilyMiller]

I had one Anon Em-hater ping me about using exquisite in every story, specifically in relation to pain. They then went on to question if I was getting laid enough, and encouraged me to hang up my keypad, and focus on sucking dick. But they may have a point in their initial observation. Exquisite does cover my views on a range of BDSM activities. So put on the cuffs and I’ll cum quietly (as if?).

What are your go to words? I mean it’s hard to avoid things like:

1. Throbbing
2. Pulsing
3. Spasming
4. Convulsing

And so on in certain circumstances. And it can be tricky to refer to genitalia in a non-rote manner (disallowing schoolyard terms).

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Just
Really

There might be some others, but I can't remember what they are. Probably Honestly and Literally.

I think I start too much dialog with “So, ….”

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's another one I use too much. Way back when I had a FB account nearly every post I made started with So.

I probably use Well too much too.

Are we twins?

I’ve been known to over employ “Look…” and “Listen…” as well.

Em

 

[alohadave]

Well,
Stroking
Slid
Sliding

 

[EmilyMiller]

Soaking
Sopping
Dripping
Wet

 

[Winter_Fare]

https://www.freewordcloudgenerator.com/generatewordcloud
Weird.

 

[AlinaX]

I do have to keep resisting the urge to use exquisite.
Pleasure is difficult to avoid.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I do have to keep resisting the urge to use exquisite.
Pleasure is difficult to avoid.

And stimulation.

Em

 

[djrip]

Glistening
Slick
Now

 

[MrPixel]

The. I overuse "the".

 

[EmilyMiller]

Oops. Wrong thread.

Em

 

[Trionyx]

I ‘find and replace’ words I overuse. By doing this, my stories are cleaner now compared to my earlier ones. My big five are just, really, that, then and very.

 

[MrPixel]

My big five are just, really, that, then and very.

Oh my. My weaknesses, too. "Very" I think is mostly out of my system and I'm getting a handle on "just"... which I've caught myself using multiple times in a sentence. MSWord's grammar checker usually catches "then" for me. "That" is a biggie, that I have been better managing in the re-reads since it tends to break the flow.

"Really" hasn't really been a problem. Really.

 

[Cagivagurl]

I had one Anon Em-hater ping me about using exquisite in every story, specifically in relation to pain. They then went on to question if I was getting laid enough, and encouraged me to hang up my keypad, and focus on sucking dick. But they may have a point in their initial observation. Exquisite does cover my views on a range of BDSM activities. So put on the cuffs and I’ll cum quietly (as if?).

What are your go to words? I mean it’s hard to avoid things like:

1. Throbbing
2. Pulsing
3. Spasming
4. Convulsing

And so on in certain circumstances. And it can be tricky to refer to genitalia in a non-rote manner (disallowing schoolyard terms).

Em

Fuck....
I use it a lot...
Not sur why, or what it means

Cagivagurl

 

[Euphony]

Fuck....
I use it a lot...
Not sur why, or what it means

Cagivagurl

Everything.

Fucking everything.

 

[Pureotica]

Just
Really

There might be some others, but I can't remember what they are. Probably Honestly and Literally.

I try to cut both when I self edit. I'm not terrible with really, but just has a way of sneaking in. Thankfully Hemingway app highlights it, so it's easy to weed, but it's a mostly useless word. It clutters prose and adds nothing 90% of the time.

 

[Djmac1031]

Oh, I have several.

Intoxicating- usually in regards to scent. Which I tend to focus a lot on. Maybe too much.

Plump - almost always as a descriptor for vulva. I most likely over use this.

Then there's the generic shit that one almost can't help but over use:

She smiled.
He laughed.
She giggled.
He smirked.


Nothing wrong with them until you find several in a row, often within a few paragraphs.

I've learned to take more time editing but still some stuff just slips by anyway.

 

[MrPixel]

Then there's the generic shit that one almost can't help but over use:

She smiled.
He laughed.
She giggled.
He smirked.

Oh, lordy. My Achilles' heels. "He chuckled." "She snickered." Darned tough to avoid when writing dialog-heavy humorous romances. Yeah, I frequently find myself needing to fix multiple instances close together.

 

[Codoc24]

then
very
really
cock (it's such a perfect word, nothing better to describe it, I use it a lot)

 

[TheRedChamber]

Not intending to shame anyone's writing but I read a story on here yesterday where the writer used the phrase 'MC/she couldn't help but' 18 times in the first page. By the end I wasn't so much reading the story as I was scanning for the phrase.

Still we all do something similar. My issue is with 'of course'

 

[ElectricBlue]

Not intending to shame anyone's writing but I read a story on here yesterday where the writer used the phrase 'MC/she couldn't help but' 18 times in the first page. By the end I wasn't so much reading the story as I was scanning for the phrase.

Still we all do something similar. My issue is with 'of course'

I always run a word cloud on every story as part of my edit, using this site:

Word cloud creator

It size scales the top 100 words in a story (excluding and, the, a, I etc... , whatever those little essential words are called).

Here's an example:

We Deliver All Things - Jenny

As you can see, the story is about Jenny, with Alex and Alice getting equal second billing.

 

[OlderFitterWiser]

I had one Anon Em-hater ping me about using exquisite in every story, specifically in relation to pain. They then went on to question if I was getting laid enough, and encouraged me to hang up my keypad, and focus on sucking dick. But they may have a point in their initial observation. Exquisite does cover my views on a range of BDSM activities. So put on the cuffs and I’ll cum quietly (as if?).

What are your go to words? I mean it’s hard to avoid things like:

1. Throbbing
2. Pulsing
3. Spasming
4. Convulsing

And so on in certain circumstances. And it can be tricky to refer to genitalia in a non-rote manner (disallowing schoolyard terms).

Em

I check synonyms for words I find I'm using a lot.

 

[HordHolm]

Not intending to shame anyone's writing but I read a story on here yesterday where the writer used the phrase 'MC/she couldn't help but' 18 times in the first page. By the end I wasn't so much reading the story as I was scanning for the phrase.

Still we all do something similar. My issue is with 'of course'

When I edit I specifically scan for 'of course' and 'indeed'. I teach ESOL and it got to the point that my students were predicting the amount of times I would use 'indeed' in a lesson - I believe they ran a sweepstake.

 

[YDB95]

In my Lit stories, definitely "vulva". It's something of a trademark of mine, a beautiful and highly underrated word.

 

[ElectricBlue]

However...
But I prefer butt.

Butt and dick are words I'll never use. Being Brit English, bum, backside or ass will suffice. And here in Australia little boys have dicks, men have cocks.