Repeating words

Lately, I have read blogs about writers who use the same words too often and some of those blogs wrote that it was not a good idea and others said it did not matter. Both sides of the issue used writers who were published to show support for their side. I am always in favor of not overloading any writer with rules that take the joy out of writing; so I say let yourself be the judge.

By letting yourself be the judge, you just have to read what you wrote with your "pencil" in your hand and see if you like it as a reader. This is where you, the writer, come into your own as a reader. When you read, you know what you like and what you don't like. You know what will help you get into the story and keep you there. You as a reader know what will throw you out of the story quickly. When I watch a television program and they quote a telephone number and they quote 555-whatever, I am out of the story. I know why they do it, but it kicks me out of the "hermeneutic circle" and I am thinking of the script writer and the cameras and crew. (Surely, there is another way of handling this problem of people calling the phone numbers that are quoted on the television. )

There are some standby rules that everyone is supposed to obey such as never start a story with the weather but I have just read a wonderful short story that started with a snow storm. They say never use adverbs which is a good rule but I never say never. There might be a occasion to use one or two. I certain do on occasion. I tend to get wordy so always write a very wordy first draft and then take all of the extra words out in later revisions. Some writers don't want to change, ever after the first draft but I don't mind at all. In fact, it can be fun like looking at a block of stone with a chisel and going over it until it resembles what I want it to look like until it does- or close to it.

When I write these blogs, it is always first draft and then I go over it a few times taking out words and I have often wondered if someone were to read it during that time if things suddenly disappear or appear during the process. It is different when I am working on something. I often write the first draft in a notebook and then transfer it into a computer and then keep going over it until it appears in the form that I want it in. I started to use a notebook because I could not write my story in a computer since I did not have one. I like computers best, but I like transferring it because I often rewrite the story completely. The blogs go into pretty much the way I write them. It is more like journalism which I used to do more.

I don't think writers, as a whole, ever get paid what they are worth. So, it is imperative that they get as much fun out of it as they can. Getting clogged down with all of those rules to my mind is not fun. I also think reading is as important as writing and as much fun too. They are two sides of the coin, so to speak. Reading becomes more important during the editing phase of writing. Also, there are times you want to repeat words. It can be very effective under certain conditions. It's like coffee. One cup of coffee is wonderful and sometimes two cups of coffee is great and sometimes it burns up the stomach. It all depends.