So apparently you can use "the" too much.

[J Riff]

Yes, but my MC is named Thethe so it's a bit much.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Thethe

Any decent Find or frequency count can't count that as the

 

[Ursa major]

Yes, but my MC is named Thethe so it's a bit much.

Is Thethe famous in your story? Do people come up to your MC and ask, "Are you the Thethe?"

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[Bowler1]

Is Thethe famous in your story? Do people come up to your MC and ask, "Are you the Thethe?"

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You should give another character a stutter and then it could be THEs fun time!

 

[Ronald T.]

I've noticed the overuse of "the" in books, blogs, and forums, and even in my own writing, here and there. So I've done my best to keep a sharp eye for any such irritating repetitions in my writing. I know I'll still miss them now and again, even though I make a special effort to spot them during my final edits. This is why it's so important to have good beta readers and editors.

I guess it's about how we read our own writing -- the mind sees what it expects to see, and it often misses what it should see.

 

[tinkerdan]

Just read someones beautiful piece that had four the's in the first sentence and two in the second.
I think four in one sentence is where we really need to draw the line.
There were at least four sentences with four the's and plenty with pairs of the's.

Needless, it took four reads to fully comprehend what the story was about and I think that the the's had something to do with it.
But I also think they were a result of a style decision for the piece.