Spam Spam Spam I Am - NOT!

First, a nod to Monty Python's Spam. 

I find it amazing that it's the perfect tie-in to teach about repetitive words in a review.  I have covered this issue before and I thought it was pretty clear about how annoying a Broken Record could be. However, it is a topic that begs to be revisited because it's a trap that we all fall into frequently.  It not only plagues reviewers but authors as well.

The use of the same word to refer to an item repeated in close proximity in the same paragraph is to be avoided. Like the counter 'lady's' reaction to all that repetitive Spam flying around, I too want to scream, "Enough!"  

The word most often abused is 'story'.  Here are other options to try in your review to break up the bad habit of story-itis.

Book
Cliffhanger
Comedy
Drama
Epic
Fable
Fantasy
Folk tale
Legend
Myth
Novel
Novella
Or use the actual title of the book instead of  "this story"
Plot
Saga
Sequel
Story line
Tale
Tall tale
Tear jerker
This mystery
This whodunit
This romance, the romance
Thriller
Yarn

I have a suggestion.  If you have a search function or (edit and replace) on whatever program you use to write your reviews on your computer, plug in the word "story" and see how often it shows up and where.  Same with "book".  They seem to be the most repeated and need to be mixed up and stirred. 

The goal of this post is to polish your writing style. I hope this list helps.  Too much of a good thing, like SPAM, can make you sick. Using the same word over and over again in a 250 word review is not a good thing. Read it aloud and you'll see.

If there are other words that you find yourself over-using, let me know.  I can research and come up with another comprehensive list that other reviewers can reference.   And, if you have other words that I missed that I can add to the above 'story', I'd love to see them and I'll update this post.

Thanks!