And I thought I was safe. But one friendly critiquer brought it to my attention that there was a word I used much too frequently. I had used it 401 times, in fact, which is more times than I had used the name of the main character. The word was "just."
"Just" is different than many other frequently used words. "It's" or "so" are understandable, and you accept them as necessary and your eyes pass over them. But "just" is different. Much of the time, it's extraneous.
How could I use "just" 400 times, you ask? Like this.
1. I used "just" to limit or moderate a statement so that it wasn't too extreme.
"Sitting up is just too hard to do right now."
"I just wanted to talk, that's all."
This use freaked me out a little. I started to wonder if I found the word so many times in my writing because I say it a lot. And then I wondered if I say it a lot because I can't say anything directly and feel like I have to soften everything or like I'm always a bit defensive. It drove me a bit crazy there for a while.
2. I also used it when characters would stumble over their speech.
"I just . . . I just got so angry."
3. And sometimes it was a filler word and could easily be taken out:
"I guess I might as well just get straight to the point."
just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just
just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just
And that makes for a very boring story. (Love the haphazard hard returns in the middle of this mass.)
But I went through each and every one and decided if I should cut, keep, or reword, and I got the number down to 247. It took several hours. I will never see "just" the same way again.
Another word I used too frequently was "awkward." I guess I was writing about teenagers, after all, so it makes sense. (Ooo, burn!) I had used it 50 times, and I whittled it down to 27. Because really, there are so many other words to describe the strange and special circumstances people sometimes find themselves in. Unpleasant pauses, for instance. An uncomfortable feeling. A clumsy high-five.
It was surprising to me to find out that I had these idiosyncrasies (and others—I also used parentheses way too much . . . like right now), but it was good to go back through and rewrite and tighten the story. And now I'm very careful about how and when I use "just." If I do use it, it has to be for a darn good reason because I'm not getting anywhere near 400 again.
I use "just" all the time, too! I've actually thought about it in terms of your comment after number one. Ok, here's something funny and totally unplanned. My sisters and I realized last year that we ALL say "actually" too much in the same way that you use "just". the funny part about that is I actually just used it in the second sentence of this comment! Ha ha, actually and just work too well together for bumbled, indirect, defensive conversation.
ReplyDeletevery interesting! I wonder what my favorite words are. Well, i know of some but there must be others i don't know about. I wish at the end of the day I could do a word count of everything I said that day and find out. Someone should walk around with me and transcribe. Or i could just do it myself--type everything I say. OR, i'll just use a Stephen Hawking voice computer. Except doesn't he choose his words using his eyes? I might be more careful then. This comment has gone completely out of control.
ReplyDeletethat's just ridiculous
ReplyDelete