How many times do you use the word, that? “That flower over there that you said would grow into a big flower that would dominate that garden that is in front of that house.” Overused? Starting to grate on your nerves as you read all the that’s? I think so. I know it’s grating on my nerves. The wonders of modern technology are that you can quick search your word files and find all the that’s and change as many as possible, if not all. The last novel I published, even though I thought (that) I was being careful to avoid that, I found over 600 that’s. Too many. Way too many. I’m so obsessed with that; I cringe every time I read the word in someone else’s work.

And, that’s not all. (No punning intended.) Here are some other words often overused to the extreme: very, really, smiled, looked, turned, grinned, and, but. I’m sure there are others, too. Perhaps there are some you personally overuse to the extreme. For me, there are quite a few, including those already mentioned. The most creatively overused word in my writing is none other than creative. So, how do we avoid these overused words? Well, we are creative writers after all. There must be better words we can use.

I try not to worry too much about these overused words in my first draft. After I’ve done a few edits, I use the search engine to find the words in my text and then devise some re-wording to eliminate most if not all of the overused words. It’s an interesting exercise, as it makes me really think about what I’ve written and how I’ve written it. I like to believe the finished product reads better without too many overused words.

Here's a list of overused words and possible replacements, something I always resort to:

that – try totally deleting the word; change it to the; rework the sentence into two or more sentences

this – change to the

and – try to delete the word, re-write the sentence without and – avoid beginning a sentence with and

but – however; try to delete the word, re-write the sentence without but or re-work into two or more sentences

very – extremely, exactly; try changing the word very along with the word it precedes, replacing it with one word. For example: very bad = horrible; very good = exceptional; very sad = distressed; very cute = sweet, adorable

really – not very because it’s overused as well; actually, indeed, easily, certainly, absolutely, unquestionably, surely, literally, honestly, truly, undoubtedly, genuinely, legitimately, assuredly, positively, precisely, admittedly

smiled – not grinned because it’s overused as well; re-write the sentence: She smiled at him = She rewarded him with a gracious smile; beamed, acknowledged or welcomed (if the smile was intended as a greeting), greeted

grinned – not smiled because it’s overused as well; re-write the sentence: He grinned mischievously = He flashed her mischievous grin; beamed, acknowledged or welcomed (if the smile was intended as a greeting), greeted

looked – watched, appeared, glanced, gazed, noticed, stared, viewed, peaked, scanned

turned – moved, passed, swung, twisted, pivoted, circled, circulated

creative – gifted, ingenious, innovative, inventive, original, clever, visionary, stimulating

There are many more possibilities. Be creative, gifted, ingenious, innovative, inventive, original, clever, visionary, stimulating and so much more. You are a writer, after all.

Footnote: Of course, it’s not an issue when using these overused words in dialogue as people talk with overused words. Genuine conversation is grossly overused and writers want dialogue to sound genuine.