Writing Tool #5: Observe Word Territory

Here's Roy Peter Clark's fifth writing tool--word territory:

I coined the phrase "word territory" to describe a tendency I notice in my own writing. When I read a story I wrote months or years ago, I am surprised by how often I repeat words without care.

Writers may choose to repeat words or phrases for emphasis or rhythm. Abraham Lincoln was not redundant in his hope that a "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Only a mischievous or tone-deaf editor would delete the repetition of "people."

To observe word territory you must recognize the difference between intended and unintended repetition.