seeking independence from prepositional phrases

To my fellow Americans, Happy Independence Day!

To my fellow planetary citizens, Happy Fourth of July (& fifth, sixth, ...)!

In honor of this country's independence, I'm setting my break-away from prepositional phrases at the forefront. (How many did you count in that sentence?)

Hi, my name is Ellen, and I am a prep-phrase-aholic.

​Don't get me wrong, these adorable word compositions have their place in your writing. They also take up your word count.

First, a definition.

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More: on the pig;
over the pig;
under the pig;
near the pig;
around a pig;
​inside a pig...

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See, they are useful.  Sometimes, you need them. 
​
John sat on the pig.
Harold ran around the pig.
Stacey jumped over the pig.

Sometimes you don't.

The pig squealed when John sat on him, probably wishing the boy were as clever as his pals who leapt and ran in circles around the muddy sow.

The trick--as with all writing techniques--is to know when to use them and when to not. What works for me might not work for you, but here's what I do.

First, I write. With abandon. Don't look back. Kick that inner grammar critic in the family jewels until you've finished. Then, when you are editing, call her back and make friends.

That's when you search out filter words, overused phrases, extra adverbs and adjectives, and all the other flowery stuff that gets in the way of your story. It's my experience that once I bring such grammatical situations to my attention, I can hunt them down. They sort of pop up like metal ducks at a shooting range. Some I catch, some I don't. But practice makes perfect, right?

I'll work on weeding out overused prepositional phrases in my writing, will you?
That's my story, what's yours?