Narrative Botox: Filler Words And Phrases To Look Out For

Narrative Botox: Filler Words and Phrases to Look Out For

If you’re planning on publishing traditionally, chances are you keep a sharp eye on your word count. Literary agents and publishing houses are on the hunt for the best quality stories that they can print for the cheapest price (using the least paper and ink), so you have a higher chance of gaining representation if you can crank your novel out in the least words possible.

However, filler words and phrases aren’t only the enemies of aspiring traditional authors; every writer—fanfic, novelist, journalist, you name it!—should try to eliminate filler from their stories to assure more concise and high-quality writing. Oftentimes, filler contributes nothing but clutter, and without it, your narrative can flow smoother and in a more sophisticated manner.

But how do you know what’s filler and what’s not? Here are some tips on how to Ctrl+F and kick this narrative botox to the curb!

I compiled these lists with the help of Infusionmedia, BDR Publishing, and ResetEra !

Filler Words

1. Just

A writer’s worst enemy, and the bane of my manuscripts’ existences. Eliminating all the ‘just’s can cut down your word count by hundreds.

2. “That” as a conjunction

It’s an unnecessary addition to a sentence, which will be more streamlined without it.

Example: “He said that he wouldn’t do it again.”

Revised: “He said he wouldn’t do it again.”

3. “Now” as an adverb

“Now” is essential if you’re talking about the past and present, but when you’re using it to draw attention to a particular statement or point.

Example: “Now, I didn’t think it’d get so out of hand.”

Revised: “I didn’t think it’d get so out of hand.”

4. Redundant adverbs

These adverbs serve no purpose because the verbs they’re describing already imply the way the action is performed.

Whispering softly

Yelling loudly

Crying sadly

Laughing happily

5. “Telling” words

These words are redundant, especially when using first person, because in describing an event, we can already assume that the characters are experiencing it.

Seeing/saw

Feeling/felt

Hearing/heard

Smelling/smelled

6. “Clarifying” words used to portray definiteness or indefiniteness

Although these are meant to help out the readers get their bearings on a situation, all they do is come across as wishy-washy! Be concise and sure of yourself!

About

Absolutely

Accordingly

Actually

Almost

Basically

Certainly

Clearly

Completely

Entirely

Even

Exactly

Fairly

Highly

Hopefully

Literally

Maybe

Only

Often

Oftentimes

Perhaps

Possibly

Probably

Quite

Rather

Really

Reasonably

Relatively

Seem

Seriously

Simply

Slightly

Some

Somehow

Sometimes

Totally

Very

Filler Phrases

1.“Let out (vocal noise)”

Use the verb instead!

Example: “He let out a sigh.”

Revised: “He sighed.”

2. Using passive voice

Passive voice inflates your word count by including various “to be” verbs into the prose. Passive voice involves actions happening to a subject rather than the subject performing an action, and as a result isn’t as riveting to the reader as active voice; even if it wasn’t a matter of word count, you’d still want to get rid of it anyway!

Still don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out this article from Grammarly.

Example: “The boy was bitten by the dog on his arm.”

Revised: “The dog bit the boy on his arm.”

3. Describing the wrong noun

Many writers will be as specific as possible about what “thing” is affected by the event they’re describing, when it’s much simpler to take a step back and write about something more general.

Example: “The level of water rose.”

Revised: “The water rose.”

4. Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are the combination of two or three words from different grammatical categories—a verb and an adverb or a preposition—to form a single action. Usually, these phrasal verbs can be replaced by a single-word verb.

“Ask for” can be replaced with “request”

“Bring down” can be replaced with “reduce”

“Come across” can be replaced with “find”

Etc.

5. Clarifying phrases

Same reason as clarifying words. Get to the point!

A bit

A little

A lot

In a sense

Kind of

Sort of

6. Remember your contractions!

Even if your story takes place in olden times, I can guarantee that if you never use any contractions ever, your story’s gonna be a clunky mess. But sometimes you’re in the moment, consumed by the poetic power of the muses, and forget that this isn’t a soap opera; so make sure you check that you’ve been using your contractions!

It is, it was, it would, she is, would not, should not, is not, does not etc.

7. Inflated phrases

These phrases can be replaced with more concise words.

Along the lines of (shorten to: like)

As a matter of fact (in fact)

As to whether (whether)

At all times (always)

At the present (now or currently)

At this point in time (now or currently)

Be able to/would(n’t) be able to (could or couldn’t)

Because of the fact that (because)

By means of (by)

Due to the fact that (because)

Even though (though or although)

For the purpose of (for)

For the reason that (because)

Have the ability to (could)

In light of the fact that (because)

In order to (to)

In regards to (on or about)

In spite of the fact that (though or although)

In the event that (if)

In the nature of (like)

In the neighborhood of (about)

On the occasion of (when)

On one/two separate occasions (Once/twice)

The/A majority of (most)

There is no doubt that (No doubt)

Wasn(n’t) capable of (could or couldn’t)

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

how to have a healthier relationship with your stats page

1. Understand what stats can tell you - and what they can’t

AO3 stats tell you whether or not another user clicked something. That’s it. Hits tell you whether a user clicked the title of your fic. Kudos tell you that a user clicked the little ❤ at the bottom of the page. Comments tell you that a user typed something into a box and then hit the comment button.

Stats do not tell you why a person did any of those things. They also don’t tell you why a person didn’t do them. You know why you do those things yourself, but there are many types of people in the world and we all have our reasons why we do things. You can’t assume that every other user of AO3 uses the site the same way you do.

Stats are not a reliable way to find out if you’re good at writing. They’re not a way to tell if you are loved. They have nothing to do with the quality of your work or your worth as a person.

2. Don’t compare yourself to others - or yourself

Because stats are not a reliable way to judge quality or skill or the effort you put into a story, comparing your stats against another author will also not tell you which of you is the “better” author or which of you has a “better” story. They can tell you which story was more popular, but popularity itself has very little to do with skill or quality.

This is also true of your own work. Chances are very real that the story you’re most proud of is not the story with the best stats. Don’t let one story’s relative success or failure affect how you feel about another’s.

3. Focus on things you can control instead of things you can’t

Once you’ve posted your story, the reaction to it is out of your control. It will get however many hits, kudos, and comments other people decide to give it and you can’t do much about that at all.

What you can control, however, is the work you put into the story before you post it. Celebrate statistics like word count or time spent writing or the number of WIP you’ve managed to finish. Those are all numbers that are in your control, that you have the power to alter and affect.

Find something in every story that makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be the whole fic. It could be one particular characterization, a scene, or a line. Maybe you wrote a particularly funny joke or a really moving description or a hot love scene.

Highlighting positive emotions and being proud of your own work will make you less reliant on the opinions of other people. You’ll develop more confidence, and that will help you avoid the stats spiral in the future. Finding motivations inside of yourself is much more reliable than getting motivation from people who might or might not continue to provide it.

4. If you can’t ignore stats, avoid them

The first time I had an unhealthy relationship with my stats page, I ended up quitting fic entirely for about a year. I still wrote, I just didn’t post anything on AO3. I couldn’t trust myself not to focus on the numbers and make myself crazy, and so I didn’t allow myself to look at them at all.

The second time I found myself starting down the stats spiral, I knew the signs and I was able to pull myself out of it. I stopped looking at my stats page, but I was able to continue posting work. I still refreshed the page for the first day to see the hits/kudos/comments but after that first day I only returned to the fic in order to post a new chapter or answer another comment.

There are tools you can use to help you avoid stats. This AO3 skin hides stats entirely. This code hides hits. Here’s one for hiding kudos with additional instructions on how to hide any stats you choose.

5. Be your own cheerleader

When it comes right down to it, the reason why we focus in on stats is because we’re looking for reassurance. We want to know for sure whether we’re a good writer or not. Unfortunately, our stats are never going to tell us that.

A lot of us are also told by others that being proud of something we’ve done or liking something that we’ve created is boastful or bragging or other negative personality traits. But there’s a difference between bragging about how good you are and acknowledging your own skills.

Give yourself permission to like your own work. You might never get that permission from someone else, so you need to take that on yourself.

Start talking to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend of yours who was working on a fic or a piece of art or doing anything else that requires time and skill. You wouldn’t tear them down, so don’t tear yourself down. Build yourself up. That positive self-talk can be difficult at first, but it’s a habit that pays off over time.

6. Know that I’m proud of you

It takes courage and strength and determination to have an idea and then to act on it. It’s easy to think. It’s a lot harder to write things down. No matter whether you post your story online or you keep it to yourself. No matter whether you get a thousand hits or a dozen. You’re still amazing, and I’m so glad you took that leap ❤

✩ Webs ✩

╰┈➤ Jegulus fic on AO3 link

★ pairing: Regulus x James & Remus x Sirius (w/ background ships)

★ Summary: Regulus Black has a lot on his plate; killing people to get by is under no means his dream job but it’s the job that pays and after lying to his brother about a trust fund post-running away, he’s not sure can afford to quit. A swinging super-hero tries to change his mind, change his morals. Regulus had never been good at changing his ways.

★ genre: Spiderman x Deadpool

★ Status: Ongoing

art credit: @/ashbee_.art

89 notes View Post

wtfismygender

3 years ago

what really gets to me is just how earnest nick is about his feelings for charlie, despite how confused he is about himself at first. he immediately goes to charlie the next day after their first kiss because he wants charlie to understand he doesn't regret the kiss, he's just really conflicted about himself. he doesn't ignore or shut charlie out while figuring out his sexuality and wanting to keep quiet about it at first, unlike ben. he makes it clear to charlie that he really likes him and doesn't want to go on dates with anyone else despite not being official yet. he gets really emotional when he wants charlie to realize how amazing and wonderful he really is and that he's changed nick's life for the better, and that he doesn't regret a single second with him. nick just communicating with charlie throughout the whole process is such a refreshing change from some of the shows we've gotten with lgbt+ representation in the past, and i'm so glad that lgbt+ youth and the community in general have a show like this to watch.

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wtfismygender

3 years ago

*acquires a new hyperfixation* great! this should keep me going for the next 2 months or 24 hours

109K notes View Post

wtfismygender

3 years ago

New chapter <3

Travels Throught Time - Chapter 1 - Mx_LuMa - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Bellatrix Black Lestrange Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Retelling, Werewolf Draco Malfoy, Werewolf Remus Lupin, Pack Family, Gryffindor Draco Malfoy, Trans Ron Weasley, Coming Out, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Mental Health Issues, LGBTQ Character, Black Hermione Granger Summary:

Draco wakes in old familiar surroundings, but has no memory of how it happend. He wakes in his childhood room in his 11 year old body, but even as it seems like he traveled back in time his body is not unmarked of the war he went through. Old scars remain on his skin. How will he handle this new challenge? Will he fall into old habits and keep history repeating itself or does he step in and take destiny in his own hand.

I plan this to be very long and spanning over all years of the war. And very slow burn.

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wtfismygender

3 years ago

ALSO can we please talk about the look of pure joy and relief on nick’s face when he saw tara and darcy kissing at the party. I think that every other gay/bi person I’ve ever met has had that same experience of seeing two people of the same gender kiss for the first time and just thinking “holy shit it’s not just me” and I just… it was so well acted and it honestly took my breath away a little bit.

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wtfismygender

1 year ago

remus and regulus

regulus: I mean, if you're asking me do I love Potter the answer is yes but I just- I don't think its normal to want to kill you're boyfriend, you know?

Remus: oh yeah, no it definately is normal

Regulus: really

Remus: sure, everyone has that time once a month or so when they just feel the distinct urge to source a dagger and violently murder their significant other

Regulus: you're sure?

Remus: yeah totally, Lilly has threatened all of her girlfriend with an axe at least once

Regulus: phew! Thats a relief.

Remus: you know one time i stabbed sirius in the hand with a sharpened quill in class

Regulus:...what

Remus: what

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