Recently, I spent COUNTLESS hours editing two different novels. I ended many days with “crossed” eyes, my amblyopia pulling at my eye muscles. Often, I am chopping words from sentences and my professional editor in replacing them as fast as I remove them, especially the word “that.”
The suggestions below are ones, which were drilled into me when I was still working in journalism.
Words to Eliminate:
unpaid debt free up
close down/up linger on
most/very/quite unique convicted felon
past history advanced planning/notice/warning
free gift tuna fish
topple over new innovation
Never add “together” to these words:
assemble, combine, bond, merge, link, splice, staple, mesh, huddle, weld
Do not use these words together. Choose one or the other.
if and when 9 p.m. and tonight
hope and trust each and every
hopes and dreams/desires first and foremost
true and accurate basic and fundamental
Are there other examples of which you can think? I’ll be back tomorrow for a few more examples. Feel free to add your “key phrases” to the comments below. I would love to hear them.
Every Woman Dreams... 
Great post! I’m sure I’ve been guilty of many of these!
I am guilty also, Nancy. The idea is to find one’s mistakes, but I am likely to miss some because I become so caught up in the story line that my eye does not catch all the errors.
Good one, Regina.
I have three lists of words, one for wordy/sloppy/passive, one for filtering POV words, and one for gestures (after I caught characters signing 15 times on the same page). I use word to highlight each of the words so I can ferret them out. It takes three passes and hours for each chapter. But I end up with something so much cleaner when I’m doing. I’m just nuts in the process!
Thanks for reminding me I”m not alone!
I have another post tomorrow on words which I focus. For example, I use “prior” because of the Regency period, and my editor changes it to “before” or “ago.” It’s a losing battle.
Excellent post! I am engaged in the same process. I am addicted to “that”!
I removed the word “that” because I always preached at my students to eliminate unnecessary words. My editor replaced the word, even added it where I never had the word.
This is great! I’m sharing it. I know I’ve gotten sloppy about writing since college and others probably have as well. Thanks!
I keep a list of words to eliminate from my writing (but I admit a few sneak through).