Writing Tips: 'What' is Very Important

When you write, people tend to say stuff like what, who, when, say, says, said, heard, where, it, and things. In many cases in which these words are OK, it can get very annoying and repetitive. For example, read this paragraph.

It was a hydra. The large thing pounced on Libbie, but she got away. She hadn 't known what hit her. '' That is a weird thing. '' she said, opening her dictionary of mysterious animals. It was a hydra, her book said. '' Wow! '' she heard the loud roar. She ran. '' But these are dangerous! '' she said, running away. She heard an even louder roar. When is it going to just devour her? She couldn't run faster.

Can't you see the repetition? It is in bold, if you cannot tell. Let's fix the words in bold.

It was a hydra. The large creature pounced on Libbie, but she got away. She hadn't known what hit her.  That is a weird thing,  she said, opening her dictionary. The dangerous beast was a hydra, her book read. '' Wow! '' She heard the loud roar. She ran. '' But these are dangerous! '' she said, running away. She listened for an even louder roar. When was it going to devour her? She couldn't run faster.

As you can tell, I kept some of the words in bold, but when they had to show up again, I changed it. Can't think of any synonyms? Well, you could use a Thesaurus. Anything is better than repetition of those common words! Repetition on poems is okay, though, since they have a rhythm.