I hadn’t noticed how much I have overused the word until I was proofreading one of my books. Not only had I used the word twice in one paragraph, but I noticed that there were many other words I use that end in ing. I don’t know if there is anyone who did any research on it, but, sometimes it seems impossible to get through one paragraph without using a word ending in the suffix.
I don’t guess there is anything wrong with it, but it just never occurred to me before, as in the word “anything,” which I used earlier. Sometimes I spend hours rewriting to keep from using too many word ing words, especially thing. None-the-less, it seems the harder I try, then the more difficulty I have.
The fact is ing does seem to be one of the more common suffixes. (something, everything, morphing, trading… well you get the point) Moreover, thing is a handy word to use when we can’t think of the right thing to say. Moreover, it isn’t very exact. Whenever possible, we really ought to use a more precise word.
Besides, as author if I am bothered by the word, I am sure anyone reading my work will be bothered too.
And so it is, If anyone can think of something to replace thing with, I am open to suggestions.
In the previous sentence, I should have wrote “another word” instead of “something”. It would have decreased the ing count.
bfrhodes99 