Your fetish words

David I · Oct 9, 2007

Over in the thread on "up and "down", folks have been listing the words they overuse (up, down, over, then, that, very, quite, and many of the other usual suspects have been listed).

Think of this as the obverse side of that question--what unusual or obscure word do you tend to overuse? For example, my editor congratulated me on using the verb (not the adjective) "gentle"--as in taking steps to calm a horse.

He congratulated me on it, but then suggested that more than once in a single novel was too much (I'd used it four times in 500 pages, and, yes, it was too much).

I also have an inordinate fondness for "eased" as a verb ("He eased his way around the corner...") though I haven't been called on that one yet. It's such a sneaky, relaxed verb that it doesn't shout and call attention to itself.

And I like the adjective "coruscating" because it has so damn much texture. So I've used it twice, in two different books, in passages sufficiently over-the-top that I don't think it was noticeable. But even one "coruscating" is a lot.

So, what's your kink? Furfuraceous? Thews? Coddled? Minced? Striations? HUnkered? What less-common words tned to creep into your manuscript?

KTC · Oct 9, 2007

damn. you said hunkered. I overuse that one in my poetry.

in fiction, i like all my trees to be sycamores. I love the word. i edit when i'm done...chop down some sycamores and plant some pines or maples...

dolores haze · Oct 9, 2007

I have to bitchslap meself every time I use the word "gazed." (Ouch!) It gets a bit painful after a few thousand words in romanceland, where people spend lots of time gazing (Owee!) at each other besottedly.

Paula Boon · Oct 9, 2007

I once used the words 'oblique' and 'obliquely' three times in 200 pages - definitely at least two times too many.

Shady Lane · Oct 9, 2007

I used "leaned" all the time...not quite obscure, but still. I want my characters to stand up straight sometimes. Damn slouchy teenagers.

Ziljon · Oct 9, 2007

Prodigious.

Devil Ledbetter · Oct 9, 2007

I found a profusion of stumbled, popped and crouched.

Oh, and stung.

melaniehoo · Oct 9, 2007

Right now I have a lot of federalies. They aren't exactly policemen so I'm not sure what else to call them. Soldiers, officers, armed-men...

ETA: OT I use eager a lot. Tried plethora today and it doesn't fit with my voice.

Lizbeth0925FL · Oct 9, 2007

I find that my characters are "annoyed" or "amused" way too much.

kristie911 · Oct 9, 2007

Definitely. I use definitely way too much. Also actually.

Actually, I definitely overuse them both...

spacejock2 · Oct 9, 2007

glanced, suddenly, immediately, turned to see, "It was ", "There were ", realised, x saw, x heard.

Just got a manuscript back from a first reader who pointed them all out ;-) Suddenly I realised (since it was immediately obvious at a glance) that I was overusing certain words.

wood pixie · Oct 9, 2007

Grinned. My characters like to grin quite a bit.

Judg · Oct 9, 2007

I'm afraid to find out. I suspect a lot of grins and nods are going to be axed, but there could be others I'm missing.

I remember reading Guy Gavriel Kay's first trilogy, where he had a passionate love affair with all forms of the word diffident going on. He used gentle as a verb twice, both time with boats. Once was enough, because it was so unusual, it really grabbed your attention.

Those books really needed a better editor, because there were a lot of little tics going on, but the raw talent still kept me reading.

WordPerfect used to have a function that would list words by frequency. Unfortunately, that one vanished in later versions. A real pity, because I used it to catch the words that were getting overworked.

JLCwrites · Oct 9, 2007

My characters turn and look a lot.

Something else for me to worry about while editing. *sigh*

triceretops · Oct 9, 2007

stood
waggled
looked askance
furrowed his brows
cocked an eyebrow
chewed her lips
rubbed his temples
licked his lips
frowned
laughed
definitely
actually
yet
rather
almost

My characters can stand in a room and burn all kinds of calories.

Tri

leenakincaid · Oct 9, 2007

triceretops said:
stood

My characters can stand in a room and burn all kinds of calories.

Tri

I laughed uproariously at that and woke up my roommate. She, fortunately, insisted on knowing what was so funny and burst out laughing at that line.

Really
Almost
Also

and all sorts of flowery phrases. But it fits with the character now. She's fifteen and having a relationship with her teacher.

Stormhawk · Oct 10, 2007

I don't feel right unless I use the word "nonetheless" at least once during a story.

imagoodgurl4 · Oct 10, 2007

I used "smile" too much. And "gazed." And I also have a tendency to use "had" a lot, but I've gotten better with that one and only use it when absolutely necessary.

ErylRavenwell · Oct 10, 2007

I'll never be caught dead using a word like "furfuraceous". Neither would I bother looking the definition of it in the dictionary. That's a word a writer can very well do without.

Mine would be "lay" (past tense of lie) and "laid"—and "regard", yes; as in "She lifted her eyes to meet his regard." I'm also fond of words like "ambrosia" and "minutiae".

Zelenka · Oct 10, 2007

Mine are things like 'looked', 'gazed', 'stared', 'glanced' etc. Usually the first thing I do when I edit is stop my characters just staring at one another.

I also tend to use 'pewter' far too often when describing clouds or water.

ErylRavenwell · Oct 10, 2007

KTC said:
damn. you said hunkered. I overuse that one in my poetry.

in fiction, i like all my trees to be sycamores. I love the word. i edit when i'm done...chop down some sycamores and plant some pines or maples...

At least that's very original. Everyone else's tree is the oak or the pine. You mind if I steal your tree?

Saundra Julian · Oct 10, 2007

Mine laugh a LOT...well, they're happy people.

I've noticed they look over their shoulder a lot too...I seem to really like that one!

KTC · Oct 10, 2007

ErylRavenwell said:
At least that's very original. Everyone else's tree is the oak or the pine. You mind if I steal your tree?

let me chop one out of my current wip...i'm sure there's sycamores to spare in it.

imagoodgurl4 · Oct 10, 2007

JessRamage said:
Mine are things like 'looked', 'gazed', 'stared', 'glanced' etc. Usually the first thing I do when I edit is stop my characters just staring at one another.

I also tend to use 'pewter' far too often when describing clouds or water.

All my characters do that, too. Your characters and my characters should get together for a staring contest.

And I never thought of describing clouds or water with the word pewter. I love that. Mind if I steal your word?

Zelenka · Oct 10, 2007

imagoodgurl4 said:
All my characters do that, too. Your characters and my characters should get together for a staring contest.

And I never thought of describing clouds or water with the word pewter. I love that. Mind if I steal your word?

Not at all.

Your fetish words

Stand in the Place Where You Live

international guttersnipe

my name is hannah

Tortilla di Patate

Come on you stranger, you legend,

And thus we begin the edits

Happy to be here

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Angry Bunny Girl

Attack!

Going home!

A work in progress

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Attack!

Going home!