Repetition, repetition, repetition

Copywriting tips

Repetition is an effective rhetoric device, in writing it's a distraction.

Yes, there are literary devices that use repetition for effect. Unless you're deploying one intentionally you're better off avoiding it. It jars the reader, and they start seeing components instead of reading content.

Go easy though. Don’t do what someone I once worked with did. As in compile a seven-page document, listing words they used the most, then eradicate them all systematically from a 110,000 word MS. I appreciate precision, writers being aware of their foibles, and clear instructions.

But I nearly had a breakdown over the word 'then'.