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"Just" for "J" Week

By Stephens

Well, lucky for me that Seth Godin blogged about writing this week and gave me my inspiration. Here is his full post:

Sort of, just and Donald Trump

I noticed a little while ago that I was using the word "just" and the phrase "sort of" in my writing. All the time, in fact. In my last book, a search and replace removed more than 80 unnecessary 'justs'.

Just say it.

Don't hide behind waffling terms that don't mean anything.

On the other hand, as I passed the skating rink in New York with the Donald's name plastered all over it, I'm reminded of a new trend I'm seeing more of, which is the act of declaring whatever you're working on 'the best ever,' 'the best in the world,' etc.

Saying it doesn't make it so. In fact, it probably makes it unso.

Take the advice and cut out those extra words. Not just the waffling words but the insistent words like "very" as in "It was a very long time since he had called".

In fact, you should be able to go through your writing and cut it by at least 10%. When I edit the work of wordy professionals like lawyers, bureaucrats, and academics, I set myself a goal of reducing the word count by 30%.

Full post as published by Building Rapport on March 27, 2008 (boomark / email).