Are you a lazy writer?

What is a 'lazy writer' and how do you know if you are one? Here are my top four methods for discovering if you are a lazy writer:

1.    Lazy writers do not edit. You cannot write one draft of a story and believe it is ready for publication. It is not. Spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes are common in first drafts, even those written by experienced authors.

2.    Lazy writers rely on adverbs. All good writing guides tell aspiring authors not to overuse adverbs. Why? Anybody can write 'he walked quickly', it takes imagination (and hard work) to write: 'he took long, fast steps' or 'his strides were quicker than his heart beat'. See the difference?

3.    Lazy writers use redundancies. Some examples of redundancies are: 'The two twins' (readers know there are two people by the use of the word 'twins'), 'the huge giant' (readers know the giant is huge by the use of the word 'giant') and even 'it was a dark night' (aren't most nights dark?).

4.    Lazy writers use unnecessary words. More words do not equal a better story. This is where number 1, 'editing', comes in. An example: 'In her mind, she thought wordlessly...' (and it has an unnecessary adverb as well!).

Are you guilty of the above? If so, how do you change this? The three 'P's'; Practice, perspiration and patience.