I just went through my entire manuscript using the find feature to locate the word “felt”. My goal was to rid the book of places where I say how the character “felt” rather than showing it through dialogue, thought or action.
For example I replaced “I felt queasy” with “My stomach contracted nervously emitting a serious of strangled gurgles.” One is much more evocative than the other, if a bit wordy.
Other words I intend to weed out are uses of “noticed” or “observed” in which I’m describing what or how something was seen rather than just writing it outright from the main character’s perspective. Of course they’re noticing it, it’s their story.
I also plan to go through looking for over-usage of “suddenly”. I read a good blog post on how this word can be a crutch used instead of writing good transitions.
Ideas In Things 