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Pet Peeve #2 - Just… Just…

by JM

A quickie post for today, ladies and gentlemen.

This morning I began working on a loose script for a podcast I may or may not submit, and I noticed something about my writing.

In the last pet peeve, I mentioned the overuse of the word “that.” As a writer, I have successfully cut my use of the word in half, if not more. However, I’ve found I’ve replaced it with an addiction to another word:

Just.

I just wanted to say… She just wanted to… Bob just wanted just one more look…

No, I never used “just” twice in one sentence, but I do tend to use it a lot more than I should.

Writers beware of words like “that” and “just” which you can put in and take out as you please. “Take out” is the best option in “filler word” situations.


Posted in Pet Peeves on December 14th, 2006

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2 Responses to “Pet Peeve #2 - Just… Just…”

  1. Bethany Says:
    December 14th, 2006 at 7:30 pm

    Yep. Stupid filler words. They’re soooo easy to throw in, because we use them in regular speech all the time, and so they fall into our writing. But they make writing clunky and that’s the last thing you want.

    Another filler that I hate, and that I notice myself using a lot “off of”…as in, I dunno, “the cat fell off of the bed”….the of is completely unnecessary, but it worms its way in regardless.

  2. Jaime Says:
    December 14th, 2006 at 10:30 pm

    Yes! Off of was a hard habit to get out of for me, but necessary.

    Those darn filler words. Grr.

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