Greetings, Storytellers. Diana here today to talk about echoes in our prose.

Echoes aren’t always as obvious as the echo in my title, though repeated words definitely fall into this category. There are a number of ways that echoes occur in our prose, and though they aren’t technically incorrect (like spelling errors), they have similar disruptive consequences. They tend to draw a reader’s attention out of an immersive story and into noticing the mechanics of writing.

Our readers’ wondrous and powerful brains work against us in a variety of ways. First, the human brain is naturally attuned to patterns, rhythms, and rhymes. And second, it loves novelty, and written echoes are not novel compared to writing styles that keep prose fresh and varied.

How to avoid them comes down to recognizing them and making simple editing changes.

There are writing programs that will identify some of the echoes…