This is my incomplete but sometimes useful list for when I am down in the weeds of editing. I’m sure you will have your own lists but these are the words, phrases and elements of punctuation that regularly get the secateurs treatment.
Words:
- actually
- almost
- appeared to
- by (unwanted passive writing alert)
- could
- definitely
- hopefully
- in fact
- just
- less (vs fewer)
- little
- perhaps
- quite
- rather
- really
- seemed to
- so
- while
- with (see ‘by’)
- would
Plus:
- any adverb
- American spelling or not (depending on where you’re standing)
Punctuation
- too many commas (or too few) – I, over-comma
- hyphens – I over–hyphen
- semi-colons – I love semi-colons; too much;
- double full stop at the end of a sentence or paragraph..
- double space following a full stop
- missing full stop at the end of a paragraph
- “” vs ‘
Feel free to add your own items in the comments box below.
James Ellis in words 