MWG Writes on Q
June 2015
A Thing of Bits & Pieces
Avoid doubling up, and other rubbish.
Just look at the following – there are a lot more – and think about them for a second. We see, and
hear them all the time, written and said by supposedly well educated people. Makes you think,
doesn’t it?
“Free gift”. Is there another kind?
“Old adage”. I thought they were all old.
“Illegal poaching”. Poaching is illegal, right?
“Reflect back”. Mirrors and thoughts do it anyway.
“Merge together”. What else is merging?
Redundancies.
Another thing we see and hear all the time is word redundancies: repeating a word you’ve just
used. I hear it all the time on T.V. and I’ve got to say it bugs me. If I were an editor my blue pencil
would be working overtime. A few examples are:
“Disappear from view.” Any other way?
“Total extinction.” Any other kind?
“Almost unique.” Either it is or it isn’t. Unique has no qualifier.
The Right Words
I know this isn’t really about dialogue, but it has a certain bearing on what I’ve been saying. I’m
reminded of a line of Hemingway’s. Someone asked him how he knew what to write and how to say
it, and he replied that he only used certain words. What words are those, they asked? ‘The right
words,’ he answered.
You can get a truckload of books telling you about dialogue in both novels and screenplays, but
the few observations I’ve just made might be useful and save you another truckload of money.
‘He said, ‘she said’ is generally all you need, and if you’ve got the characters voice right, then
possibly not even those.