by Nicola Auckland:
We all use them but what exactly are crutch words?
Crutch words slip into your writing when you’re back is turned. They are comfortable, familiar words your brain falls back on in everyday speech and which migrate, unbidden, to your creative writing.
Using crutch words is weakening your writing voice. Consciously or unconsciously, readers notice them. Be it a ‘lazy’ word or an oft repeated phrase, identifying and eliminating yours will improve your creative writing instantly.
What are Crutch Words?
Crutch words are filler words that when added to a sentence kill your ability to paint with your author voice. They are words you might use in everyday speech to give yourself thinking time (actually…) or to provide emphasis to what you’re saying (literally…). Unconsciously, these words can also slip into your writing but are often unnecessary. I like to think of these as my ‘lazy’ words. If you’re using them then chances are the sentence you’ve written isn’t strong enough to survive without it.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
Crutch words are definitely my kryptonite. Especially since we use so many of them in our speech, it infiltrates our writing too and I don’t even notice it 😦
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It happens to us all 😀
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Always a good reminder!
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I enjoy creative metaphors and similes instead of ADJ and ADV in many cases.
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Thank you for reblogging my post Chris, much appreciated. Like any guidelines, they are purely subjective but hopefully helpful to somebody 🙂
Have a great day.
Nicola x
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Welcome Nicola 😀
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Thanks for featuring this post Chris
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Welcome Paul 👍😃
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I tend to use That, and, just once a lot. ð
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I almost always disagree with any ‘rule’ for writing. But I don’t completely disagree with this.
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😃
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