1. Very – Ladies and gentlemen, the most useless word in the English language!
2. Just – Just is the plain, unsalted potato chip of writing.
3. So – You think you should use this word as a conjunction, but you so shouldn’t.
4. Really – For real.
5. Literally – Reserved for Rob Lowe.
I’ve listed these in the order of personal annoyance. When reading for Apex Magazine the overuse of these words is typically a red flag calling out “Newbie author at work here.”
That. For example: “I wanted to tell you that Jane is coming to dinner.” vs “I wanted to tell you Jane is coming to dinner.”
I’m horrible about putting just, so, and that everywhere in my writing. I let them pepper themselves into my first draft, then delete them with glee during revisions.
“Jane is coming to dinner.”
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[…] From the first list of overused words: […]
[…] From the first list of overused words: […]
[…] From the first list of overused words: […]
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