Writing Weaknesses

We all have them. Problems that creep up in our prose time and time again. Critique groups find them even after we've read our work five times and saw nothing amiss. So I feel comfortable sharing mine, knowing full well I'm in good company.

1) Author interjection. Sometimes I lose my character's voice. It falls away and exposes the person behind the curtain. If you'll recall, the Great and Wonderful Oz fell victim to this fate. And now the reader knows it's not a teenager speaking at all, but the author: a middle-aged mom.

2) Using superfluous writing. I always have to go back through my writing and remove "that," "the," and "just," for example. Sometimes I make my point twice in the same sentence. (Okay, not sometimes. Always. Look, I did it again!)

3) "Telling" instead of "showing." Much of the time, I love the way I've worded something. But if it isn't helping to keep my pacing, or it ceases to keep my characters in motion, it's not working.

4) Repeating words. In one sentence I'll say "She passed the salt." In the next paragraph it might say, "She passed up the high fat rolls." Maybe several sentences later I'll write "...she said in passing." It's tough to notice these, to be sure. But when I do, I get out the Thesaurus!

There are more, but these are the problems that crop up for me on a regular basis. It's good to know your weaknesses. And even better to realize it's okay to have them.