FROM DAISY
Lately, I've been dealing with my bad habit of using "that" in a lot of my sentences where it isn't necessary. Example:He knew that she was going to be in a bad mood when she got home from work.
vs.
He knew she was going to be in a bad mood when she got home from work.
RESPONSE
"That" is usually a good word to eliminate, but I think it is not nearly so harmful to good writing as weak or empty verbs. For example, your sentence:He knew she was going to be in a bad mood when she got home from work.
One ho-hum verb (knew) and four empty verbs (was, going, to be, got). How about we inject a little metaphor and some better verbs:
He knew she would roll in from work with her fuse hissing.
or maybe:
When she lumbered in from work, he knew the dinner menu would include him from the first growl.
Good verbs and metaphor are the life blood of good writing.