“Little foxes” are sly literary critters that often sneak in and spoil a well-written piece of prose. As writers, we must stay vigilant against them. Sometimes they’ll pop on our pages while we’re writing. Other times, we’re unaware of their presence.
Little literary foxes are words we overuse, such as so and that. Many times, we don’t need them.
Let’s look at the word that.
1. John thought that Billy played golf.
This “little fox” in bold weakens the sentence’s impact.
2. John thought Billy played golf..
This sentence, without the word that, reads smoother and stronger.
A good way to identify when this word is unnecessary is when it follows a verb. In such cases, that usually isn’t needed. TIP: Read your that sentences without using it. Is your writing still clear? If it is, delete that.
Let’s look at the word so.
1. So, John sees you can cook.
This word is acceptable in dialogue because people often talk this way. However, I wouldn’t use it in narrative exposition.
2. John sees Mary can cook.
This is much smoother and natural.
3. He lifted the bucket so he could dump out its contents.
This sentence is fine because so is used as a conjunction.
Let’s be careful not to overdue these words. If too many sneak into our work, they can spoil our writing.
Till
next week, friends!
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