Weak words to hunt down and destroy when editing fiction

[mollyringle]

(This is my personal list, reflecting my own bad writing habits. Use or add to as you like. Obviously you don’t have to delete every instance of the verb “be” or other similarly common and useful words, but in at least some cases you can replace them with more vivid phrasing. E.g., “It was raining” can become “Rain lashed against her face.”)
 

seem

could

that

this

just

look

glance

stare

know (knew)

hear

feel (felt)

reach

move

watch

was (were, is, be)

-ing

-ly (adverbs)

keep (kept)

have (had)

anyway

actually

paused/hesitated (have them do some action instead)

peek (for an inanimate object)

now

em-dashes –

spin/turn on one’s heel

thought to herself/himself

picked at invisible/imaginary speck of dust/thread/etc

quite

very

pretty (to mean “fairly” or “kind of”)

 

And let's not forget "let out a breath she didn't know she was holding."