Once You See This Amateur Mistake, You Can’t Unsee It

Writers should beware of doing this unintentionally

Guest writer Malky McEwan, who lives in Scotland, is one of my favorite writers. He’s a prolific writer, skilled editor, and fantastic teacher. Malky describes himself as “Author. Curious Mind. Born storyteller with a dollop of humour.” He couldn’t be more correct. He’s a 9x top writer at Medium and owns one of their most popular publications. Reading this piece will show you precisely why.

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Repeat after me, “I shall say this only once.”

We are all prone to repeating ourselves. We do it in conversations without thinking. That can be a tiny, teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy annoying for those on the receiving end.

I read dozens of articles for my publication every week, and one thing that stands out is the unnecessary repetition of words or ideas. I’m talking about tautology.

I understand why those new to writing make these mistakes, but it is surprising how many seasoned writers don’t realise they do it. I find it a tiny, teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy like the reading version of driving over a speed hump.

Tautology isn’t always a mistake; it is only considered a fault of style when unintentional. Intentional repetition can emphasise a thought or help the listener or reader understand a point. I’ve deliberately used it twice; although they mean the same thing, tiny, teeny-weeny, and itsy-bitsy sounds witsy.¹

Even if most of your readers tune it out, the people who matter: your future agent, editor, or publisher, will wince, and it could cost you dearly. Clear communication is best practice, and it puts you ahead of every other writer who isn’t aware they do it.

Tautology repeats an idea using synonyms. It is similar to pleonasm,² which uses redundant words to describe something that is already implied. Tautology and pleonasm often overlap. Both are writing gaffes.

The mistake I most often see is the unnecessary use of own.

• She was staring into her own reflection.

Imagine her staring into her reflection, and it wasn’t her own.

Similarly:

• Too wrapped up in their own insecurities to notice yours.

• As far as my own research can tell me.

• I’d be interested in your own thoughts.

If you have thoughts, they belong to you, they are your own. Removing own tightens your writing and avoids you looking like an amateur.

• This is my own personal opinion.

Personal implies ‘one’s own’, so own is redundant. Own here is a tautology. It should be ‘My personal opinion,’ which is a pleonasm. If you have an opinion, even if you adopted it from someone else, it is your opinion.

If you can remove the adjective, and it makes sense, do it. That’s my opinion. And similarly:

• In my opinion, I think skilled writers shouldn’t flaunt their insecurities.

Not only is it tautological, but expressions like I believe, perhaps, and maybe weaken the writer’s authority. They are redundant fillers. They delay the message, demonstrate the writer’s insecurity, and tell the reader what he already knows.

‘In my opinion’ and ‘I think’ should only be used when contrasting your opinion with others you have quoted.

• I wouldn’t do this in my own home with my own writing.

If it is my home, I don’t need to say I own it, but ‘own home’ stresses your ownership, whereas the repetition of own with writing is too much. There is a fine line between incorporating it and removing it, but which one?

• I wouldn’t do this in my home with my own writing.

• I wouldn’t do this in my own home with my writing.

Which sounds better?

It depends on what you are trying to emphasise. If you put whatever you are writing into a Word document and search for own, and if the sentence works without it, delete it.

• I wouldn’t do this in my home with my writing.

It will always be correct.

One of the easiest ways to make a tautological error is with speech marks. We use single or double inverted commas to show dialogue, but they can also be used to indicate supposed, alleged or so-called.

• Malky’s supposed “writing lessons” were confusing.

To make this correct, I would need to remove supposed or the speech marks. It’s the same with these:

• Malky’s (allegedly) “clean” car was covered in bird shit.

• Malky’s (so-called) “mates” didn’t invite him to their party.

It isn’t always our aim to keep our text as short as possible, but with business writing, articles, and journalism, that is often the case.

Tautological phrases eat into your word count without adding meaning. Worse, they portray you as a writer who is unable to think clearly.

Here are some more examples I have come across:

• I always begin writing at 8 a.m. in the morning, because that’s when my wife leaves for work — a.m. means in the morning.

• End result — the result is already at the end.

• Added bonus — a bonus is something extra, so added is redundant.

• New innovation — an innovation is inherently new.

• Close proximity — proximity means being close, so close is redundant.

• Final conclusion — a conclusion is the final part of something.

• Past history — history refers to the past, so past is redundant.

• Unexpected surprise — a surprise is inherently unexpected.

• A two-year period — two years is a period.

• People who lift you up — up here is redundant, and it sounds better without it.

• Single bachelor — a bachelor by definition is single.

• In order to — to means approaching or reaching a particular condition.

• Enter your PIN number in the ATM machine — the N stands for number and the M stands for machine.

• I’d love to make $1,000 dollars from this article — $ = dollars, only one is required.

Tautology takes many forms. And it isn't always clear-cut.

• Here is a short summary:

You might think I needn’t use ‘short’ because ‘summary’ conveys the idea of being short. Short could be redundant. But is it? I have read summaries that are pages long.

Read the paragraph below out loud, remove the redundancies, twiddle with it to your satisfaction, then read again.

• By the month of August, I made a personal visit to my brother. The evening sunset was beautiful and gorgeous, which I saw with my own eyes. I was so excited I could hardly contain my enthusiasm, which is why I always arrive punctually on time.

Then you will be a writer, my friend.

Malky McEwan

[1] Witsy is my new word with such an obvious meaning, I’m not going to define it. If Shakespeare can do it, so can little old me. I hope to see it in your future articles until it becomes so ubiquitous it enters the dictionary.

[2] Pleonasm link.

Find Malky online at Medium.com and Substack, look for his books, too.