101 Writing Tips from an Exhausted Reviewer

Redundancy + Sentence Structure

Ah, yes, redundancy. I suppose I should start the chapter by writing a few redundant sentences. You know, sentences that are redundant. Sentences that serve no purpose, making them redundant. Redundant sentences. Unneeded sentences. Sentences that already repeat something that has been said before, and therefore, does not need to be said. Which makes them redundant. 

Have I tired you out yet? 

Basically, a redundant sentence is a sentence that you simply don't need. There are several reasons why you don't need them, and this is a topic I constantly find myself bringing up in my reviews. 

But, before we get into the types of redundant sentences, let's talk about why they are such a problem. 

There's only one main reason I can think of: they tend to interrupt the flow of your writing. In some cases, when you've repeated things so much, it even becomes annoying for the reader. It makes the writing seem unpolished, and if you've got a word limit to adhere to, then, well, it's certainly not helping your case. 

Now, before we talk about the types of redundant sentences there are, please note: I am not a professor in redundant sentences. I am actually a professor in wondering why so many stories on Wattpad insist on including sensitive topics, such as mental illness, without doing an adequate amount of research on said topics. 

Okay, no, jokes aside, these are not official types of redundant sentences. These are just the ones I've noticed in my year and a half of reviewing. I've come up with seven, so instead of numbering them of, I'm going to make a rainbow. 

RED: The Excessive, Abundant, Superfluous, Needless, Unnecessary, Unwarranted, and "A Little Bit Much" Descriptions.

Yes, I am drowning in irony. And yes, the title is an example of this type of redundancy. 

Basically, it's where some words are unnecessary because the point would be made just as clearly without them. For example: 

She held the rotten tomato in her hand. It had brown spots along the skin, and it was soft -- mushy, even -- to touch. It clearly wasn't edible anymore. It must have been edible a few days ago, but now, with the red faded to brown? With the mushy, overly soft skin? It was definitely too rotten to eat. 

Okay, exaggeration, but seriously. We get it. The tomato is rotten. Leave it be. Don't eat it. And, if you do eat it, enjoy the trip on the wee-woo truck to the hospital.

Another example that you're more likely to see in stories: 

The One Direction song was boring and dull. It made her want to sleep.

Boring... dull... they're basically the same thing. Why do you need to include both of them? 

When you're rereading your story and you find yourself glossing over the words, or a friend admits they are finding a certain paragraph hard to engage with, double check to make sure you haven't fallen into this hole. 

ORANGE: Spelling it Out. 

The most important thing to remember is that your reader is not stupid. Or, at the very least, we assume they are not. You don't need to spell out every single thing to them. For example: 

Sunshine's stomach rumbled as approached the fruit platter. She picked a rotten tomato from the fruit platter. 

We already know that she went the fruit platter. You don't need to tell us that the rotten tomato was specifically picked from the fruit platter. It is already implied, and your readers should be able to work it out for themselves.