Writing : Lazy Wording

Who told you these were lazy words? I disagree. When used properly, any of those words will work in a pinch. There are times to SHOW your story, and times to TELL it. Big scenes need to be a SHOW, and in most cases you would avoid some of those words. But if you need move the story forward during a time in which nothing significant happens, then you use exposition, which is TELLING, and then some of those words become your best friends. Good stories are a combination of Showing and Telling, and if your story is all Show and no tell, then you've got a screenplay, or a very lopsided story. There's nothing wrong with Telling parts of your story, you just have to know when to do it, or, more importantly, when not to do it. 

I agree with Bob.

I have no idea how you compiled this list, but I've never heard of "is," "am," or "it" being considered lazy words.

"Fiction gains momentum, description and clarity if we avoid most of these words."

^^You should probably explain that.

'It really was a fine day' can transform into 'I’m gripping onto the fading moments of a lucid dream, trying my best to ignore the cloudless daybreak streaming through my window.'

That's all well and good to try and unpack this rather inoccuous sentence, but maybe, just maybe, 'it really was a fine day.' Nothing more, nothing less, just a fine day. Don't fluff shit up to fluff it up. Have a purpose for doing it. If that is the narrative voice or a character's voice, then fine, but don't do it just to make me read you trying to be clever. It comes off as pretentious and turns into a purple patch. Simple, clear, concise will win you more acclaim than fluffing up a sentence that had no business being fluffed. Don't be a fluffer; be a writer who can say something meaningful in a simple, clear, and concise way. 

'It really was a fine day' can transform into 'I’m gripping onto the fading moments of a lucid dream, trying my best to ignore the cloudless daybreak streaming through my window.'

And something spectacular better happen after that beautifully rendered sentence. There are two more important rules that come to mind; S & W's omit needless words and Elmore Leonard's if it sounds like writing, rewrite it. 'It really was a fine day.' doesn't need unpacking unless you're contrasting the cloudless morning with something terrible happening in the immediate future, and even then, too much expansion of that statement could dillute the potency of the constasting event. 

Point is, don't spend too much time fluffing up the words just to avoid some predetermined lifeless words. Write from your heart and tell me a story without trying to be a stylist. You'll win over more readers, and editors/agents, that way than dressing up words in clothes that don't fit right. 

I think everybody seems to be taking this as a lump-sum issue and then wanting to jump down the O.P.'s throat about it (sort of anaolgous to JGB's "All Adverbs Are Awful" post).  But the crux is this:  vague word choice weakens prose.

Does the guy get into a car, or does he get into a Packard?  Does it make a difference?  Sure.  One word points to a time period, a setting, and a socio-economic class.  That's a lot, and accomplished just through specificity.  Personally I'm a fan of using harder words to cut down the number of words I'm using rather than fluffing them up, and I think specificity goes a long way to accomplish that.

Is it necessary all the time?  Of course not.  I don't think mamckeown was getting at the idea that these words need to be purged from the vernacular, or even proposing that everybody now adopt some hard and fast rule.  Rather, the point I took away was that an overuse of vague wording will dull the edge of your prose. 

And I don't actually think any of you disagree with that, because I've read what you write.

I use 'that' too much and I try to notice it and cut it when possible.  It isn't always possible.

I'd say that what's important for each writer is to find the words that you personally overuse or use as a crutch and then work to weed the garden a little.  If you have trouble identifying that, ask someone else to read your stuff, the words will probably pop out to fresh eyes. 

what

you have to practice practice practice doing things different ways so you notice the old ways you've been doing things and can catch your own repetitiveness - and that's the original point of the post, yeah, breaking out of your own faults/traps/catch-alls? If you ban yourself from using anything for awhile it makes your brain work hard, that's a good thing, then when you lift the ban you're just more aware of your options in how to build sentences.

and if you want to fuck up your life don't say the word "should" for a whole day. 

@manda, along those lines, next time you're writing, don't use the phrase "seemed to" on anything. Don't tell me what something seemed like. Tell me what it was. I think a lot of times writers use "seemed to" because they're either afraid to tell me or are unsure what is really happening. That could be construed as lazy.

@mamckeown, I agree. Dialogue is sort of a place where, rules be damned, it has to feel natural. People use "that" all the time in speech, and you can even use things like "that" as insight into a character. What kind of person uses it? Someone who's a bit spacey? Someone who's uneducated? Someone who talks fast and just needs to keep making sounds to give their brain time to catch up to their mouth? I love dialogue because it's a playground in itself.

I find the word "just" is almost always uneccessary.  I'm trying to cut it out from when I speak in real life.  It's like "that," usually you can cut it out and make the sentence better.  However, in dialogue, I like to use it with more emotional characters a lot (as well as "like" and so on), whereas serious ones will almost never use it.

Concerning the OP's list, I think it depends on their usage.  Sometimes people "realize" things, for instance, you can't get around it.  But when you use the word twenty times, well...

@Avery - I find most use of 'that' is unneeded.

Having said that, I should clarify I too hate all of the "thought," "remembered," "believed" bullshit. It's the little words on the list that I happen to like, and use a lot, like THAT.