I want to talk very briefly about “that”. No, I’m not talking about something dirty I can’t say so I have to use the word “that”. I’m actually talking about the word “that”. I remember when beta reading for some writers, I had to point out the overuse of the word “that”. I’ve finished proofing Vampires’ Curse to get ready for print, and OH MY STARS! Could I have used “that” any more times? Grrrrr. Now there were a few instances where it made sense to use it for clarification, but most of the time it sounded clunky and made the sentence NOT flow as it should. Most of the time, we don’t need that word. I did notice, since this is a compilation of three novellas, I used it fewer times in the third novella and used it most in the first one. So that means I was getting better at catching it. I even use it in my blog posts sometimes when I don’t need to. I think it goes back to English class or something, because there’s some reason my fingers want to type that word. And it’s perfectly proper and acceptable in every place I used it, but it wasn’t NECESSARY. So for this current WIP, although I know I caught most of them, I’m going to do a “find” on the word document for the word “that”. I wonder how many I’ll find that I don’t need? (I think the previous sentence needed the “that”, LOL.)
How about you? Do you use “that” more often that you need to?
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Hmmm…I think (that) there was something you proofed for me where you mentioned my over ‘that’ usage! Sometimes, I think it is correct grammar, but we leave it out so often in normal speech that it looks colloquial and unnecessary in print.
There have been a few writers I’ve pointed it out to. And to myself. LOL. It is definitely proper grammar, but it’s not the norm in today’s writing. It might be one of the reasons some of the older literature sounds stilted, which makes it harder to read. I haven’t really thought about that. And I think I actually use it in speech more than most people do. Otherwise, why would I have trouble NOT writing it? I need to listen to myself and see if I use it. I just don’t know.
Same here. I’m aware of it now though, and I’m more likely to go the other way and have too few thats. 😉 I love using Wordle to check what other words I’ve overused. There are always a couple!
I’ve noticed I use the word “realized” a lot, too.
That Wordle thing is fun. I think everyone has words they use often.
I’ve become aware of overusing “that” too and it’s something I’m working on leaving out. Least now you’ve caught it before the book goes to print.
And I need to decide if I’m going to go back and change the ebook version. I probably will at some point since I want my books to be the best they can be. I love the find feature on Word so I can check every instance of “that” and see if it’s necessary. I want this current WIP to be perfect. (Just kidding…no such thing as perfect, LOL.)
‘That’ is one of the overused words that I search for when editing, but I find when reading other writer’s works that ‘just’ is the word that drives me crazy. Outside of use in dialogue the word ‘just’ is rarely needed. There are other words to weed through but ‘that’ and ‘just’ are at the top of my list (and adjectives, I really need to cut those little nuggets out. Thank goodness ‘that’ isn’t an adjective or else I’d use it once a paragraph).
I never thought about “just”. I need to check my manuscript for it. I also need to be careful of using “suddenly” too much. It denotes that something happens sort of quickly and maybe unexpectedly, but there’s got to be a better way to say it sometimes. It’s amazing what we learn as we continue on our writing journeys.
Guilty. I use “that” a lot. I know there are times when it’s not necessary, but if the sentences sounds better with it (to me), I’ll use it. It’s interesting that the word “that” used to be used often in literature. I hear the word “that” is used more in the UK than in the US. I guess part of it might have something to do with the culture. I wonder what people will think of our writing 500 years from now. 😀
What I usually do if I’m not sure it should be there is to repeat the sentence a couple of times out loud with and without it. In most cases, the sentence flows better without it. But, sometimes, it helps clarify things. I don’t always take it out.
I wonder, too, how our writing will be thought of years from now. I know I can’t stand to read most literary pieces that were popular years ago. They just aren’t…interesting.
Good idea! I know I use it… and commas. I’ve got to do search/finds for all kinds of things!
Commas…now there’s where you can have a dilemma. I know how to use commas properly. But there are a few times when I’ve fudged a little because the sentence actually sounded better with a comma pause, even if it technically shouldn’t be there. I’ve heard other authors admit to doing this. 🙂