I won't repeat what others have said, but, half the battle with self-editing and improving (or broadening) your writing is simply being self aware.
You're noticing the repeats. Good. That's a positive trait to have, and the more you're aware, the better you can get at catching yourself and changing things as they happen. If there are words or phrases in particular that you use, then practice or think about other ways to use those words/phrases. Make use of rp/writing buddies, ask how they'd phrase things. Too, sometimes it can be fun to write in certain tics or phrasing that a character might use; I have Tani use 'um' or 'uh' a lot, and for Zhi it was often a 'read me?' or 'yeah?' at the tail end of sentences (and in descriptions, I'd often reuse certain phrases about how she smelled because I wanted a certain kind of consistency and I wanted to stamp it in peoples' minds). Zuri I'll reuse posturing or the way she looks at people and away, because her body language/word choice can be sometimes obtuse, and I want to reward my writing buddies for correctly identifying what some of those things mean without making it too complex for them (or, their character misunderstanding something, which makes intricate scenes all the more fun). Not to say that I don't change it up, but body language can be horrendously complex, and neither I nor they are interested in tons of paragraphs about all the micro expressions a person is capable of making. Shortcuts.
Repetitiveness can be a tool to use as much as a weakness to correct -- be thoughtful when you see it in your writing and don't just habitually stamp it out, you know?
Also sometimes like someone uses a word or I remember a word that's awesome and wind up reusing it a bunch because in that moment (hours? days?) I'm in love with it and there is no better word. I forgive myself for those, because I'm having fun, dammit.
...also, words that I picked up via thesaurus years ago I still use today. Not all of them, but at the least it broadened my vocabulary. Ain't nothing wrong with learning more words.
You're noticing the repeats. Good. That's a positive trait to have, and the more you're aware, the better you can get at catching yourself and changing things as they happen. If there are words or phrases in particular that you use, then practice or think about other ways to use those words/phrases. Make use of rp/writing buddies, ask how they'd phrase things. Too, sometimes it can be fun to write in certain tics or phrasing that a character might use; I have Tani use 'um' or 'uh' a lot, and for Zhi it was often a 'read me?' or 'yeah?' at the tail end of sentences (and in descriptions, I'd often reuse certain phrases about how she smelled because I wanted a certain kind of consistency and I wanted to stamp it in peoples' minds). Zuri I'll reuse posturing or the way she looks at people and away, because her body language/word choice can be sometimes obtuse, and I want to reward my writing buddies for correctly identifying what some of those things mean without making it too complex for them (or, their character misunderstanding something, which makes intricate scenes all the more fun). Not to say that I don't change it up, but body language can be horrendously complex, and neither I nor they are interested in tons of paragraphs about all the micro expressions a person is capable of making. Shortcuts.
Repetitiveness can be a tool to use as much as a weakness to correct -- be thoughtful when you see it in your writing and don't just habitually stamp it out, you know?
Also sometimes like someone uses a word or I remember a word that's awesome and wind up reusing it a bunch because in that moment (hours? days?) I'm in love with it and there is no better word. I forgive myself for those, because I'm having fun, dammit.
...also, words that I picked up via thesaurus years ago I still use today. Not all of them, but at the least it broadened my vocabulary. Ain't nothing wrong with learning more words.
