by Patricia Mayo

“Just say it.”

Yesterday Seth Godin noted two statements he found annoyingly over-used in his own writing - “just” and “sort of.”

While I applaud him for his self-analysis (honestly I think that’s how The Man is still likable and hasn’t let the fame get to his head) - ridding of commonly used phrases in your writing just willy-nilly can be hazardous to your readership.

Using Your Medium

Studying your commonly used phrases is especially helpful in discovering why you write and what you hope to gain for doing so. Let’s take a look at these two phrases and what they really mean.

Just Cause

“Just” - in the tense I have seen Seth Godin use the term most - is an emphasizing gesture, suggesting “only.” He realizes some things are lost in translation once it is written - and so perhaps subconsciously inserts “just” to help compensate.

The fact “just” is common in his writing says he is a very meticulous and exacting person. Therefore, Seth is writing because he noticed details others missed - and just doesn’t want readers to miss it again.

Seth’s “what” is to help others see those details - not necessarily any kind of personally gainful metric such as hits or clicks. As a result, removing unnecessary instances of the term “just” will not hurt his writing - so long as he works to emphasize the truly important points in other ways.

Sort of Not a Good Idea

“Sort of” can be either very wishy-washy, as in “that sort of wasn’t what I intended,” - or very particular, as in “that is the sort of writing people pay to read.” Seth tends to use both, but the wishy-washy sense is a bit more prevalent.

The common use of this term suggests an indecisive nature. Given his aforementioned attention to detail, you might think he is missing the forest for the trees - but I argue that he simply does not wish to exclude anything or pigeonhole himself into a corner.

Seth’s “what” in this case is to let readers think for themselves - instead of argue with him and nit-pick the insignificant details. In blogging, this sort of writing lends to comments, backlinks, and other personally gainful metrics.

As a result, removing “sort of” can be hazardous to your readership - unless you make it a point to otherwise invite conversation. Being indecisive can be a very powerful conversion tool, if used correctly and not mistaken for passive voice.

I will dig much deeper into using remarkable word choice in the premier issue of ComHacker Magazine. Feel free to voice your questions in the comments, and I will make every effort to answer them.

And thank you so very much for reading!

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Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter