Re-routing Repetition

In the world of fan fiction, there are some words and phrases that are used more often than others.

Repetition sucks...

Adult language is in this post, please use care when reading.

Here is a small list of words or phrases that I've noticed are used a lot in fan fiction.

Remember, a thesaurus is a writer's friend.


WORDS:

Incredulous - This is often used in the way someone looks. I mean, can we not use another word? (EX: He glanced up at me with an incredulous look spread across his features.) If this word is used more three times in a chapter I will stop reading the story. It's like SM created this religious following that it's not a Twilight fan fiction unless someone uses this word in their story. *shudder* Why do I say that? Because this word is ALL through-out the Twilight Saga. Don't believe me? Go re-read it. This word and I are not friends and I have NEVER used this word in any of my stories because I despise it so much.

Other words to use instead of "incredulous". Disbelieving, doubtful, wary/warily, skeptical, uncertain...etc.

Abandon - I see this used more in lemony fics than any other. (EX: He brought her lips to his and kissed her with abandon.) This is a new word on my list and isn't so annoying as the other word we've already discussed but it is used juuuuust enough to make me cringe when I see it too much. And it's not just the fact that it's used too often, it's just used out of context quite a bit. When people use this word they are trying to convey a disregard to the consequences of a direct action. That's fine and dandy but let's remember that if were reading about a couple and we're the end of the story and there are no more possible things to stand in their way of happiness, let's leave the word "abandon" behind. Because let's face it, there are no consequences to kissing someone you love. I kiss my husband all the time and there are no consequences involved (I had that taken care of after I had my last baby).

Tips when using this word? Just make sure there will be consequences or there is a possibility that something could go wrong when a character does something with abandon.

Fuckery - I'm all for using the word 'fuck'. It's so versatile. It can be a verb, fucked, an adjective, fucking, or a noun, fucker. But there is one version of 'fuck' that is over-used quite a bit and that is the noun, fuckery. It is usually taking place of the word, 'shit'. Instead of saying, "do you believe this shit?", someone will say, "do you believe this fuckery?". Sometimes they will even combine the two, "do you believe this shit fuckery?". This is an inappropriate use of the word shit because there are two nouns (should be "shitty fuckery") which is irking enough but when used with 'fuckery'...Ugh.

So, what is the remedy? Just stop saying it. Period. Give shit it's job back. Trust me, it misses being used.

PHRASES:

Anything to do with food and putting it in the mouth.
It is a sad, sad day when I start to dislike reading the words food and mouth in the same sentence. Does anyone actually realize how often this is used? It's like a broken record. (EX: I pulled the plate towards me and started shoving food into my mouth.) No one is exempt from this damn piece of crap phrasing that makes me go *headdesk* or *facepalm*. Even the most popular stories repeat something along this line over and over and over and over again. Ladies and gents, is it so hard to describe what one of your characters is eating?

How can we improve this? That is an easy one. Use your imagination! Instead of describing something merely as food, tell us what the character is eating so that we may experience it with him/her. If it is an odd piece of edible material that you feel that not a lot of people have eaten and may be you have, describe how it tastes and how it feels while it's being masticated. Let us EXPERIENCE.

Pushing emotions or thoughts.
Even I'm not guilt-free of this one. This one is most popular when a character is going through a troubling situation and has thoughts or emotions that are unwanted and they need to "push" them aside. (EX: I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind to focus on the task at hand.) I find that a lot of stories that involve angst use this phrase quite a bit. But seriously, we can't actually push thoughts or emotions aside that are troubling us. Try having a really bad day and then just using physical force on your underlying feelings so you can move onto other things. You'll find that it's hard to exert anything on that deep emotional, mind controlling crap.

How can we stop the physical force on objects that hold no matter or mass? That's easy. Work through the problem and don't get a character into a thought process that they can get out of without much hassle. It's not realistic to be thinking so hard about something then just be able to push something aside so easily and not come back to it until many chapters later. If a problem is that severe then it's going to resurface five minutes later. Any thought a character has, they have it for a reason and any thought that has a purpose is not easily dismissed. I have learned this over the past seven months. The only time that I can think of that something can be re-directed is when it's not as important as the real problem in the scene. (EX: My stomach rumbled and growled in the silence but it was nothing compared to my situation. I was lost in the woods, so my insatiable hunger would have to wait.)

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Well, I think that's all for right now. If you are reading this and want to add to the repetition, feel free to do so in a comment!