J is for Just (& Co.)

Ever notice how every writer has a set of words which seem to plague their first drafts? I definitely have my own list and "just" has earned its spot near the top. It's right there next to "that" and "really". I don't stress about these words while writing the first draft of a MS, but I have learned which words I tend to overuse (thank you CPs!!!) and I check every instance of these particular words during first round revisions (before anything gets sent to the CPs).

I don't delete every instance of the words on my list though. Instead, I read each sentence with the word and without it to see if the word adds to the meaning, flow, rhythm of the sentence. If it doesn't, it's gone. If it does, but still feels over-used, then I revise the sentence to say the same thing in another way or look for a replacement word. Often, I find that the words on my list are a form of laziness - or maybe not laziness, but a way of getting the whole story down on paper quickly, and saving the finesse for later. So, as boring as going through every instance of "just" or "really" in a first draft might sound, it's actually an extremely helpful way of highlighting the places in my narrative where I need to expand on something or invest some time in developing a beautiful sentence.

Do you have a list of words you know you over-use? How do you make sure your final draft isn't plagued by words like these?:


even
just
that
really
very
truly
almost
nearly
hardly
almost
about


Do you use websites like autocrit to find over-used words or do you rely on your CPs? Do you have any words to add to the list of words to watch out for?

And if you are looking for a serious solution to breaking an over-used word habit, check out this post on using Word's autocorrect tool in a whole new way. :)