Not Again

Before a book is published, a copy editor can improve the story by enhancing the writing. It's one of the last steps before a book goes to print. I find this interesting because you might think it's the story itself that would face additional scrutiny, but it's actually elements of the written word.

A common mistake is word repetition. I usually catch redundancies when I reread a page. My second book is going through copy-editing now. Even with all the previous edits, the word like was overused, and this will have to be corrected. But, why are these repeats a problem?

Books let readers lose themselves in a world created by the author. Most novels will take hours to read, and good writing is the conduit for an entertaining story. Word repetition can be boring and uninspired. It can also be distracting if it garners attention.

When you're writing, challenge yourself to finding new words and different ways to say the same thing. This one fix will improve the structure and add intrigue to the narrative. Remember, not everything bears … repeating.