‘ING’ Words-Good or Bad?

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

Writing your first novel-Things you should know

gerund_onlyToday as I revised my novel, I noticed something that should have leaped off the page during past reviews, but didn’t. I am having a love affair with ‘ing’. These ‘ing’ words are all over the place.

I stopped the revision process and did some research on ‘ing’. I remembered reading somewhere, that the overuse of ‘ing’ words was not a good thing.

Opportunities to overuse the ‘ing’ word are boundless. There are nouns, adjectives, verbs, and even verbs masquerading as nouns called gerunds, all ending in ‘ing’.

So what’s the big deal? What’s wrong with ‘ing’ words?

The overuse of ‘ing’ words mark you as an amateur – Don’t be alarmed if you see more than a handful on one page. Do take a closer look if you see more than a handful in a single paragraph.

While wrapping a soothing sling around the fledgling’s broken wing, Diana was humming, dreaming of her prince charming…

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15 thoughts on “‘ING’ Words-Good or Bad?”

  7. Important article! Not using too many “ing” words is a cardinal rule for professional writers. Avoid “echoes” i– repeating the same word too close together — is another. These are among the things I learned in writers workshops and from critique partners while writing my first book. Whether an author submits a manuscript to a traditional publisher or self-publishes, it’s vital to apply these rules to his or her work.

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