A good tool to avoid overusing words . . .

[Aegrus]

I've linked a site that can let you make word clouds. Basically, copy and paste writing where you are instructed, and it will arrange your words randomly in a cloud, with the words used most often being the largest.

This can be useful for finding out how well focused your book is, and also if you overuse adjectives.

Plus, they are printable, and look nice. To the best of my knowledge, the site does not have viruses or rip off your work when you paste, but that's not a guarantee. Remember to read and pop-ups or user agreements thoroughly. It's been a year since I last used the site, and I can't remember if it wanted me to sign up or anything. . .

Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds

 

[W.k. Trail]

That got linked earlier today (I think,) and it's still an awesome utility. Someone needs to make one of these but for phrases, I bet "the other girl" and variants sees way too much use in my writing.

 

[Aegrus]

My apologies. I saw the other overused word thread, and I read most of it, but I didn't think something like this had been posted.

 

[Codey Amprim]

Honestly, the best and most efficient way for me is when you're actually in the revision process itself. Granted, you must take a good bit of time away from your work before you can do this. You pick out so many things that you wouldn't have during the first draft.