Crutch Words & Phrases
In no particular order, here are some of my crutch words and phrases:
- Just
- Actually
- And with that
- Really
- Studied/Peered (my crutches for “look”)
- Snort (less so now, but it was a bugger in some earlier work)
- Starting sentences with “and” (nothing wrong with that, but I do it a lot)
- Motherf*cker (okay, this is a joke and in reference to my post on swearing in novels)
I allow myself to use these crutch words and phrases when I draft since I know I’ll fix/address them when I revise, but I find simply being aware of them means I use them less anyway. (And yes, this awareness sometimes slows me down as I draft since I’ll often pause when I start writing a crutch word, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.)
I showed you mine. Now show me yours. 🙂 What are some crutch words you use if you’re a writer, or what are some crutch phrases you hate seeing as a reader? Share in the comments.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Two crutch descriptions that I’ve become aware of yet seem unable to shake is having characters glance at each other and ‘pause for a beat’. They just seem to be integral parts of my character’s interactions with each other. Annoying.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:47 am
Oh, yes! The furtive glance…I’m guilty of this one as well.
March 25th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
My two main ones are “just” and “really” and I also tend to start with “And” or “But” a lot. I’m sure there are more but I can’t think of them of the top of my head. I’ll definitely need to fix them during revisions.
March 25th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
“Had” “sighed” “stared” …. sigh, I have a whole list around here someone where that I’m supposed to be checking. Oh yeah. To be.
March 28th, 2011 at 11:09 am
I use the semicolon way too much. I need to just end with a period.
April 17th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Oy my crutch words are all four letters and tend to get my site marked NSFW.
$hit, I’m a slow learner.