Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

I’ve used the same editor for all of my books. Her guidance has been invaluable, and my growth as a writer is due largely to the critiques that she sends back on my drafts. What has been consistent throughout this process is my inclusion of a word that I thought I had a handle on, but clearly did not, since this last round of edits I was reminded that I should be looking for ways to avoid it. The word I have trouble with, among others, is “that.”

I have become an avid Twitter follower, and I see a ton of posts by other writers who voice their frustration when it comes to words they use too frequently. While it is nice to know I am not alone in this, it would have been nice to know early on that I could have saved myself a lot of headache with…