I am going through my thesis and trying to eliminate approximately 10 percent of the words. I wonder as I do this, who has been messing with my manuscript? I find myself guilty of EXACTLY the same things I mark in my students’ papers, and I wonder how I didn’t catch it?
I don’t have the word “that” very much, and the adverbs are also few and far between. I do, however, start a lot of sentences with but and and. I also use the word “down” quite a bit, as in I sat down instead of I sat. Another word I was shocked to find over and over is Just. It seems impossible to get rid of all my “was” constructions.
The first three chapters are now down to 11,600 and some words, approximately 10 percent less.
I was going to write more about this editing, but my husband came home from the girls softball practice, and we now have to go to Autumn’s first game of the season.
Mommy! Happy Mothers Day! And I WON MY FIRST SOFTBALL GAME! OH YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s so awesome. AND I caught a pop-fly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!