Writing Hint #2 Avoid repetition

There is one error I find myself falling into on occasions. Too many occasions now that I think about it. Repetition of words in close proximity to each other can be off-putting to the reader. It also shows a lack of proof reading and a certain amount of laziness on the part of the writer.

I came across this great quote recently:

“If you re-read your work, you will find on re-reading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.”

So I’d better follow my own advice. Proof read carefully, and edit, edit, edit… oops now I’m repeating myself.

UPDATE: A reader has kindly suggested that I should consider revising the first two sentences. I’ve  done the very thing I was advising against, repeating the word ‘occasions’  (now underlined) . Ooops.

 

4 Responses to “Writing Hint #2 Avoid repetition”

  1. […] „guten“ Schreibens besagt, dass die Wiederholung eines Wortes im selben Satz/Absatz zu vermeiden ist und stattdessen Synonyme gewählt werden […]

  2. john says:

    should you remove one of those “occasions”?

  3. Trevor says:

    Thanks for that John. I must have been very tired when I wrote this post. Your suggestion points out the importance of having someone else proofread your writing. I’ve written an update of the post.