9: Have you checked for redundancy in your text?
What is Textual Redundancy?
Redundancy is the poetic variety and the targeting of repeated words/phrases.
Systemically, redundancy in a text is often attributed to insufficient literary influence. In other words, a writer hasn’t read enough, hasn’t reread to study, hasn’t typed up preexisting manuscripts, hasn’t played stenographer, and certainly does need to make some adjustments or else face the editor’s solemn wrath.
Refrain is repetition with purpose, normally attributed to lyrics, poesy, or dramatic flair, and is, outside of classical or formalist writing, considered to be fit only for song. It used to be that someone could triple repeat a statement and from this, some sort of emphasis could be commanded, or that a focus might be adjusted. The same effect might come from yelling or whispering in a hush. In any case, repetition for empowerment is one thing, but repeated words outside of this can crush the pace and disinterest the reader, not to mention mucking up what the muse and voice are trying to achieve together.
*There are tools and techniques in certain software packages that can count specific words and so aid in anti-redundancy micromanagement. Seeking these can help fix what’s already there, but using the following JWC tools can help to correct these tendencies, and so transform/manage your voice.
Photo by Mark Harpur on Unsplash |
When you write a page/paragraph that satisfies both muse and voice and has been overseen and observed by a creative workshop, then use the following exercise.
Guidelines to Variety of Phraseology: Mythic Containment
How many Vehicle words? + or – =
The, with, was, etc
How many Flower words? + or – =
High caliber words
EX: gorgeous
How many Power words? + or – =
Hysteria words
EX: dismemberment
How many Elevation words? + or – =
Those immersive into bliss so that the reader can climb into the infinite
EX: scintillation
How many Descending words? + or – =
Those immersive into terror so that danger can capture the reader
EX: hideous
How many Nonsense words? + or – =
Diversions into humor or absurdism in order to cut tension
EX: flatulence
How many Mythic words? + or – =
The phrasing of concept so that it may not easily be forgotten.
EX: quest
Wordsmithing? + or – =
The generation of terminology so that the reader “learns” with the characters
EX: cleromancer
Photo by Sandra Ahn Mode on Unsplash |
Using the Guidelines to Variety of Phraseology: Mythic Containment, you can modify how many words more or less for each variety, so that voice dial-ins and or modifications can be explored. By this an off text or over polished work can be adjusted to the taste of what is called for, or be further perfected and/or studied so that every criteria is met.