Okay, so it’s mostly in dialogue. That's how characters talk, don't they? So is SO today's YOU KNOW, or is it just my writing tic?
So what are the words that you have to weed out of your final drafts?
INGRID THOFT: There are tics--words and phrases like "somewhat," "actually," and "a bit," and then there are actions that I seem to favor subconsciously. Sipping, for instance. Apparently, I love it when my characters sip their beverages. I'm also a big fan of clomping and trudging.
And this isn't so much a tic as a practice, but adverbs can sneak into early drafts. It's a good idea to weed them out and find a better verb!
LUCY BURDETTE: If I could just stop saying "just!" Just as they rushed into the room, I was just so tired, if I could just lighten up...the possibilities are just endless.
In real live life, I seem to start way too many sentences with "well." At least I don't think that's bled over into my writing. In the old days, a lot of "skittering" went on in various iterations of my manuscripts. Now I think people are more likely to trot...
HANK PHILLIPPPI RYAN: My characters shrug. And grin. And sometimes they shrug and grin. Do you know how often a real person shrugs and grins? NEVER. Never! It would look absurd.
Plus they're always raising eyebrows. Or saying" Right?" And I always do an edit-find for of course, and just, and actually.
Oh, I haven't used trudged recently. thank you Ingrid! Maybe we should all edit each others, right? Oh--rats.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Lucy, I also share your habit of starting too many sentences with "well," and unfortunately my characters have picked it up. I'm going to have to go through during edits and remove 90% of them.
Also, each character has his or her "thing" that he or she does - for instance, Russ the cop rubs the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses, and Clare the priest fiddles with her hair, which she keeps in a twist.
In real life, we all have habitual gestures, and we do them a LOT but in a novel, a few mentions add up quickly. I had one reader propose a drinking game based on my writing - one sip of Russ pinches the bridge of his nose, two sips if he says, "'Scuse my French." I forgot what chug was - probably the two characters looking at each other with LUST.So I'm trying to reduce the number of times I use those tics. (Look, Hallie, I said "so!")
Also, I am very fond of people levering themselves from chairs. When I finally listened to the audio of my first book, I was appalled to discover how MANY times characters levered themselves up and down. It sounded like a text by Archimedes. I pay close attention to that word now.
JENN McKINLAY: Probably seems to be my go to tic. But I'm a so-er, too, and, well, just, shrugged, stomped...yes, yes, all of those. Probably, I should work on it. I have noticed that every book seems to have its own catch phrase, such as "she couldn't seem to...". I had one book where my protagonist couldn't seem to do doodly squat. That took some rewriting.
But, yes, every book has its challenges.
RHYS BOWEN: Oh Hank--my characters grin too. And glance. And turn. They are always turning. She turned to face him. He turned away. She turned to leave. Revolving characters, that's what I have. And actually. It creeps in far too often.
Then I become obsessed with he said, she said. So I make my characters do things while they talk. "Why did you come here?" She put down her tea cup.
And Julia, I agree, listening to audio can be painful. One thing I do is to read portions of the book out loud so that those tics become obvious before I send my baby into the outside world.DEBORAH CROMBIE: I think we're all dipping into the same phrase pool! My pages are full of "a bit," my characters shrug, and sip, and raise their eyebrows, and then they glance. Again and again.
And then they turn--oops, that's another tic, starting sentences with "and." But (there's another one) while they smile, they only occasionally grin. People say, "Right," and if they really want to make a point, they begin sentences with "Look." It's all so bloody (oops, another one) annoying.
As far as the dreaded "he said she said," I prefer that to substituting alternate verbs. You know, "she whined." Although she whined winningly, I'm sure..
HALLIE: So today's question... when you read, what author-ly tics make you wince?
