Sometimes people repeat a word for effect. Other times, it is repeated because the writer doesn't realize how often the word has been used. In my brief time as an editor, I found the same term used three or four times in a sentence or short paragraph. This can be because it is a technical word and nothing else can replace it. Other times it is because the writer simply didn't make the effort to proof the work before it was submitted for publication.

If you use Microsoft Word (and this may work in other word processing programs too), here is a way to find out if you are working one word too hard:

From Dummies eTips
Replacing Repetition in Word

A nifty thing about the Replace command is that it tells you how many words it found and replaced when it's done. You can take advantage of that in a sneaky way to see how many times you use a certain word in your document.

As an example, suppose you know that you use the word "actually" way too much. One or two "actuallies" are okay, but more than that and you're being repetitive.

To determine how many times you use "actually" (or any other word) in your document, summon the Find and Replace command and enter that word in both the Find What and Replace With boxes. The same word. Two times. Click Replace All, and Word dutifully counts the instances of that word in your document.

Nothing is replaced with this trick because you're searching for a word and replacing it with the same word.

A good thesaurus is the cure for repetition blues.

I once wrote a novel in which a character renamed himself. About half way through Jonathan became Joseph, and I honestly didn't notice what was happening until I had 200 pages typed out. What's a writer to do? I simply searched for Jonathan - John - Johnny (because I had used varistions on the name throughout the book) and replaced them with Joseph - Joe - Joey (I figured the character knew what his name should be better than I did). This will not catch the odd misspellings of the name that occur when you are writing quickly, but there's a cure for that too. If your word processing program has the capablity, you can set up AutoComplete and AutoCorrect features to finish that name you are tired of typing over and over in a long manuscript, and to automatically correct a name you find yourself persistently misspelling.

It is human nature to become blind to a favorite word. Reading a manuscript aloud is one way to find if the repetition has become boring. The ears will hear what the eyes don't see.

That is true. It's like those test where you are asked to read the sentence on three lines, and the last line has an extra "the" at the beginning. I have to work on this, I know that for sure. I think most writers do. Word usually makes mistakes though, I don't like it very much. WordPerfect is better for spellcheck and the like.

That is true. It's like those tests where you are asked to read the sentence on three lines, and the last line has an extra "the" at the beginning. I have to work on this, I know that for sure. I think most writers do. Word usually makes mistakes though, I don't like it very much. WordPerfect is better for spellcheck and the like.

I loved WordPerfect. Unfortunately I have to use Word at work and had to use it again for editing work I was doing last year, and then there was an upgrade I didn't like, so I finally had to give up on WordPerfect. Still, WordPerfect has some great features that Word has never matched.