Redundancy vs Important Repetition

Chao- This is probably something that slips by a lot of writers. We write a paragraph or even a sentence and don't even realize we've repeated an event or detail.

Example 1: He was on the lookout to look for enemies.

Chao- Some may see this as a mistake only novice writers make. But unimportant information that gets repeated does happen to even advance writers.

Example 2: A few feet from where he was standing, the boy saw a familiar looking sock not too far from where he was.

Chao- Isn't that just a little redundant? It seems like they are taking up space.

Suggestions to Fix This:

• If you come across something you are questioning, consider if all words are needed just for that sentence.
• Prepositions at the end of sentences tend to have readers lose their focus, especially if its prepositional phrase after prepositional phrase after prepositional phrase.
• Read the sentence in question out of context. If it can stand alone without any other explanation, keep it.

Chao- Repeating such information isn't all bad. If you have something repeating, it can be a good thing. It can show you are trying to tell your readers some important information.

Example 1: It may be true he held such a fear in his heart, but he also held a dream. He dreamed that one day he would be able to let his friends know what his one wish was.

Example 2: She couldn’t believe he was a vampire. She couldn’t believe her innocent friend had somehow been brought into a battle between creatures. She couldn’t believe the strange situation she had landed in.

Chao- Both of these involve a word or two repeated. Authors can look in a thesaurus for synonyms, but what if they had a point they wanted to make? If you want something to stick to your readers, or if you want them to take notice of something, this can be a good skill to try out.