Redundancy takes many forms and it makes for clunky, dull writing. Below I shall give a few examples.

When words and punctuation are redundant, stop with the quotation:

• “Stop!” he shouted.
• “Why?” he asked.

When the whole concept is embodied elsewhere, the underlined word or phrase can be eliminated:

• She sat down.
• …she thought to herself.
• and etc.

And, finally, don’t use two–or more–words when one  would do. Simply choose the strongest, or the one closest to the meaning you are striving for.

• She hated, loathed, and despised him.
• The wind blew hard, raging across the open field.
• Joe was tall, towering over his teammates.