: Re: Is it possible to use the word "it" too much? I'm describing a creature in my story, and I'm worried I'm using the word "it" too much. Is there a substitute I can use for the word? Can

@Mendez196

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You are not overusing "it" or "its", the only thing to worry about with pronouns is ambiguous reference; which I don't see in your example.

An ambiguous pronoun reference: Normally a pronoun refers to whichever the previous noun was. A noun is a person, place or thing, and it gets confusing when a single pronoun might refer to more than one such noun.

This is particularly prevalent in same-sex interactions, multiple girls having a conversation or multiple boys having a conversation. While it may be clear in the author's mind that despite the lack of nouns, the first "her" refers to Linda, the second "her" refers to Gina, and the third "her" refers to Barbara, don't count on your readers being able to read your mind!

He hit him in the face, and he responded by kicking him in the knee, which caused him to fall ...

(Wait, who fell?)

When confronted with a slew of pronouns you have written, particularly in same-sex interactions, make a point of checking each one and seeing if it is ambiguous which character it refers to. If not, leave it alone; pronouns are processed almost subconsciously by readers; as long as they aren't ambiguous.

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