Warning: I just found out my first draft had 47 filter words

I was using one of those free online writing analyzers last night on a short story I wrote. Turns out I had 47 instances of 'just' and 'that' and 'very' in a 2000 word piece. I had no clue those words were so common. Has anyone else run their old drafts through one of those tools and been shocked at the count?

2 comments

2 Comments

linda62613d ago

Have you ever noticed how those same words creep into how we actually talk too? I catch myself saying "just" all the time in conversations, almost like I'm apologizing for taking up space.

craig.nathan13d ago

Here's the thing though. I work in a machine shop and the guys I work with would laugh me out of the building if I started saying "just" all the time. We say stuff like "hand me that wrench" or "get the hell out of my way" and nobody takes it as an insult. I think a lot of the "apologetic language" stuff gets way overblown online. If I watch my boss, a 60 year old guy who runs a CNC lathe, he never says "sorry" or "just" and people respect him MORE for it, not less. Maybe the real issue isn't the words we use but the fact that we're all walking on eggshells around each other now.