Due to kicking myself in the butt a few weeks ago, I finally completed removing words which made my sentences passive from the Shadows in the Stone manuscript.
Grand Total: In 27 chapters, I eliminated 1,424 was, 292 were and 449 that words, reducing the overall word count by 2,837. On average, each chapter contained about 3,000 words, so in the end, it felt as if I eliminated an entire chapter. That’s incredible.
My hope is that after completing this exercise that I’ll think twice before ever using was, were and that words in my original drafts.
Today, I began Part II: The final edit before it goes to the editor stage. During this stage several other tasks take place, such as recording character names and making final name changes.
You can read about Part II on the Shadows in the Stone page. As always, a brief update on my progress appears in the right-hand column of every blog page below the book cover.
Diana Tibert 
I have certainly noticed “that” is a word I over use. It helps to have someone point these things out and make us aware. 🙂
LikeLike
It’s incredible the words we add which can be removed easily and not change a single thing. I’m thankful to the person who pointed out the man ‘was’ words. If she hadn’t done that last October, I would have published this novel riddled with them.
LikeLike
Wow! Diane! You have made me think about my use of those words. You are doing great, I would say. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, Lynn. Up until about five months ago, I didn’t know these words had invaded my writing. Incredible since I’ve been writing for more than 30 years. Eek.
LikeLike