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One of those items you deal with when you publish is unnecessary words . We founded our business on bringing the reader the author’s work as they intended. We don’t censor our writers. We don’t deal with political correctness or bow to public pressure to assuage one group or another. We write what we feel.

However, we do write. Which means there are some things which require removal from the end product . Such as the words “that”, “and”, “but” and “or”. I find a great many authors adore such words. Words which are often overused or misused.

When it’s the first draft who cares. Write . Write like it’s the last thing you need to do before you die. Put it all on paper. Write down every thought. Fill the first work up with conjunctions and connectors and commas. Don’t worry about verb usage or sentence length. Write – period.

Once the first draft is done it is time for me to go to work. Do you remember the Schoolhouse Rock special called conjunction junction ? I loved it. It showed kids how conjunctions like “that” and “or” and “and” work. It was a great song and cartoon. I often find myself singing it even now over thirty years later. It comes to mind when I find myself looking at a sentence filled with the word “that”.

I can’t begin to tell you how many “that’s” can be used in a single sentence or in a paragraph. It boggles the mind. It is something I struggle with myself. However, it is an unnecessary word most of the time. Sure, you need the word “that” in some situations. Some. Rarely.

If you read the sentence you used the word in, I bet you can find a better way to write it. Often you end up with a far better sentence with a good verb and strong noun. You will find yourself eliminating the adverbs. Also eliminating your overuse of commas. You will want to also remove the incredible amount of “and’s”, “but’s”, “or’s” you will find in your writing.

I am not against using such words. I am against overusing them. I have found few times when I can’t adjust a sentence to remove the connector – the conjunction. Or remove the compound sentences and run-on paragraphs.

I encourage you to write. Write with passion and with abandon. Write without a care in the world. On the first draft. Afterwards you need to prepare yourself for what comes next. Judgement. Criticism. Rewrites. More rewrites. Corrections until you’ve mastered word usage. Of course, mastered is something few obtain but all strive for, including myself.

Write then edit. Do the big edits . Find the plot holes. Cut and paste until the chapter does what you want it to do. Then get down to the nitty gritty. Look at each sentence. Read it – out loud. Does it work? Is it a compound sentence? Can it be better? Does it need to be there at all? Does it verbally flow grammatically ?

The end word in a manuscript is important. Words are the tools we use to tell our stories. Words form sentences which form paragraphs. These become chapters and each word leads to another. If the reader can put it down, then your words aren’t doing their job. If you can put down your own work, then you know you have more work to do.

Study your work. Pick it apart. Do it word by word, sentence by sentence until the chapters flow the way you want. And for cryin’ out loud, please remove as many “that’s” as you can. Your book will thank you and so will your readers.

I’m Ross, The Editor for the Pyrateheart Press, and I’m out.