During the editing process, take a closer look at the wording of your sentences. Are all of those words really necessary, or are they just adding fluff to increase your word count? This is what we refer to as overwriting. Overwriting can result from several fundamental errors:

• Too many adjectives and adverbs.  i.e. When the yellow, round orb of the sun stealthily and smoothly creeps into the azure blue early morning sky- one may wonder why the sun didn’t simply rise.  If you feel the need to modify every verb with an adverb, or every noun with an adjective, chances are, you’re not picking the right words-Max Keele.
• Using big words when simple ones will do. i.e. Ascending the stairs instead of walking up the stairs. Seeking alternatives for “said”is another common error, that leads characters to “expostulate” or “riposte”.
• Too much detail or backstory. Describing the color and length of your protagonist’s hair is fine but it had better be relevant to the storyline, otherwise, it’s fluff you can cut out. Most of us deplore long exposition “dumps” that stop the action dead in its tracks. I love reading inspirational romance novels, but I can’t count how many paragraphs I have skipped getting from the mundane to what really matters.

Remember every word has to do a job. If it’s just taking up space, then it has to go.

Something to think about.

-Jan R