Editing

Tautology

June 20, 2019 /

Noun. The saying of the same thing twice in different words.

Dictionary.com

I was some editing stuff and I wanted to get a few pages in, but I was hid hard and heavy with the word tautology and the example her own.

There was no way I did this in my writing, right? WRONG. A quick search and I had seven (in 20k words). I had just gotten used to the problem of using just too much, and using too many ellipses (…).

Alas, I want to be a better writer, so here we go – down tautology lane. What are some key ones you can add to your round 1 edits list?

Well….we began with his/her/their own. That’s a big one. But what about those amazing adjectives? When is tautology good?

I have no idea when it’s good or bad, but here’s a list of places you mind find them.

  1. Weather: dry desert, wet rain, cold snow. This are all things I would want to type out to make something really vibrant in your mind. A desert is just a place, but if I say dry you can imagine dry. It’s easier to bridge the gap from where you are and where the story is.
  2. Time: It’s 2 PM in the morning. Said no one ever. But I bet some of you are prone to saying it’s 2 PM in the afternoon. I just hope you’re enjoying the evening sunset. Sounds silly in when I’m bringing attention to it, doesn’t it?
  3. Senses: I saw the car with my eyes, I heard the bird with my ears, I felt the cat with my…actually, maybe this one needs a little help word in there – there are a lot of ways you can feel a cat. Other things to look for – close proximity.
  4. When a word isn’t enough:
    1. A sad misfortune
    2. over-exaggerates
    3. Beyond infinity
    4. deafeningly silent
  5. I am what I am: A hot water heater – if it heats, it’s likely hot. Same goes for frozen ice, new innovation, old ruins, short summary (…one would hope all summaries are short), in my opinion, I think… there are tons of these – watch for them.
  6. Acronyms: DVD disc, SCUBA tank (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus tank), and PIN Number (Personal Identification Number Number), Please RSVP (Please, Répondez s’il vous plaît aka… please, respond please), and LCD Display (Liquid Crystal Display Display).
  7. Ownership: for the sake of people who only read lists – My own book, your own necklace. It’s my book, it’s your necklace.

These aren’t all of them. Tautology is common and not always bad. Tautology can be used stylistically. There’s no reason you need to remove them, but being aware of the writing devices you are using is important.

Thank you yourdictionary.com for the examples, without you, I would have a sad post. Everyone should should out the linked site for more examples.