A Case of the "Hads"

One of the best rules I have made for myself as a writer is to read my words aloud. It's the only way I catch errors in syntax and grammar. For some reason, my eyes go squirrely after looking at line upon line of TNR, and I just can't see my mistakes. But I can HEAR them, and they are LOUD.

I'm having one of those mornings where I feel like a terrible writer.

Last night, I wrote a scene that I was very happy with. And this morning, I am reading it, and discovering I had a case of the hads. There, I even wrote it in that sentence! My characters "had" done a lot of things. That word was unnecessary and distracting, most of the time.

The problem with writing Historical fiction, is that everything that happens in your book happened in the past. This novel is a polyphonic narrative, so there are a few voices telling the story. This can be a pitfall - and I am discovering that while it is an engaging way to tell a story, it is not the easiest path.

So today, I am enabling my software to highlight the word "had" whenever I use it.  Do you have words you stumble over in your revisions? Sometimes it takes another reader to see overuse of common words, like "she," "very," and the names of your characters on repeat - another reason to get feedback and critiques.

While I do believe that getting the first draft down and going back to edit later is the most effective way to finish a book, catching yourself making these kinds of mistakes early-on will save you time in your revisions later.