By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

While writing my latest novel, a shocking realization punched me hard in the stomach.

My manuscript was littered with worn out and overused words.

Originality had been replaced with a nasty disease called redundancy.

Creativity slumped into a corner and buried her head. My disease had the potential to destroy fiction and nonfiction.

After the shock and despair simmered, I explored various sites to find a solution. Because if I had the problem, so did other writers.

What I found excited me! My success prompted me to let you know about the cure.

My first step was to search on Pinterest for “writing aids:” http://bit.ly/25uvgYK.  I spent a crazy amount of time reading all the boards: every help and suggestion imaginable for the writer. (I bookmarked it.) What really helped me were the topical boards.

• 100 ways to say yes
• 100 ways to say no
• Words to say instead of go
• Instead of “look” use
• Words to use instead of “amazing”
• Words to use to describe combat
• 200 ways to say “says”Another great Pinterest page caught my attention—“writing tips.” http://bit.ly/1X9d8CP

A few days later, I came across The Power Thesaurus – Follow the easy directions to “Type in a word to try it out…” I typed in my list of my common pet words.

• Faster than a speeding bullet.
• More concise than a professor with a dozen PhDs.

In my excitement, I managed a few virtual cartwheels. I now had a list of “antibiotic” words to fight my redundancy disease.

If in doubt about how many times you’ve used a particular word, paste your text here in the Word Frequency Counter – and immediately you’ll learn how often you’ve used every word in your manuscript.

Editing ourselves is critical to success in the publishing word. We want our writing to be always fresh and creative. I like the words of Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the places you’ll go.”

How do you battle redundancy?

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association; International Thriller Writers, and the Faith, Hope, and Love chapter of Romance Writers of America. She is co-director of The Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference and The Author Roadmap with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.