Hartmouth Horrors

This Monday morning, my mind is on elegant variation, a term coined in the early 1900s to describe the using of synonyms and substitutional phrases to avoid repetition in prose. Taken with a pinch of salt, it’s not such a bad idea, but taken to the nth degree, it can produce some pretty hilarious results. And unfortunately, it seems to crop up a little too often in indie writing. Let’s take a moment first to consider the writerly avoidance of repetition. I don’t know exactly why we do this — and if there are solid, well-researched answers out there, I’m too idle to look for them—but it appears that we do, at least in the Anglophone world. When I notice recurring terms in quick succession in my own writing, I find myself cringing and doing what I can to remedy the situation, and I strongly suspect that you do too. So, accepting that repetition is something we want to avoid, what’s to be done about it? Well, I never envisioned this weekly blog as a writers’ advice thing, so I’m not about...