: Re: How do I get rid of overused words in my story? I did a word frequency analysis on my story. Unsurprisingly, the most over-used words often corresponded to passages where I was lazy with my

I would start by asking myself if that behavior 'types' the character or not. When other characters think of this character, is that the first thing that comes to mind? Is it part of the characterization? Then I would ask if the behavior or attitude I'm attempting to emote from that character can be expressed another way? Is the chuckle the typifying hallmark of this attitude and outlook on life? Or are there other ways to portray this?

Since you identify with specific actors, perhaps you could do some research to collect other scenes with these actors portraying the sorts of things that match your character's personality. This may give you some additional visuals to use as you are making your word choices.

Escalation or gradation is also a possibility. Someone who audibly chuckles every single time will have a certain feel to them, something the other characters (and you as the author, as well as any beta-readers you have exposed your work to) will recognize. Audibly chuckling all the time might actually be considered strange or weird, depending. However, feeling humor or attempting to project humor can be done a number of additional ways: a smile, a smirk, a rolling of the eyes, body language, narrative of the internal emotions, and more.

Just a few thoughts and methods to tackle this that I hope are helpful to you.

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