Conjunction Junction

by Lynn Daniels on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 7:32 am

Previously at LynnDaniels.com: We had a server failure in my household. Unfortunately, it was the server containing all my photographs and my writing. While I did have a large portion of both my photographs and my writing backed up elsewhere, I didn’t have all of it backed up. Yes, I’d become a slacker. Until my husband takes the server to have my information pulled off it by a professional, I’ve taken to retyping my most recent ms, Saving Wonderland, into my computer so that I can finish writing the story. This is taking a very long time (heck it took me 30 days to write what I’ve got so far!), and is still a work in progress.

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What's your function?

As I retype Saving Wonderland I’m also re-learning some things about my writing. More specifically, some of my quirks. We all have words that we love, words we find ourselves using in our writing over and over again. I don’t mean wonderful fun words like hullaballo or conundrum. I mean those horrible little words that sneak into your writing when you’re not looking. Those words that appear everywhere, and without warning. Those words you search for and delete in your first round of edits.

My biggest problem word, the scourge of my mss, the bane of my writing existence, is just. Just for me is akin to like for a teenage girl. It sneaks in everywhere. Like ants on a rainy day. It’s my crack cocaine. I know I don’t need it, yet I can’t stop myself from using it. The good news is I know I have a problem and I’ve admitted there is a problem. Every first round of edits the first thing I do is a search for just, followed by deleting at least 97% of them. I’ve actually found five sentence paragraphs that use just five times!

With this ms, a new plague has emerged. It’s actually always been there, it just seems to have multiplied lately. Like dust bunnies under the bed, this new pest has begun to drop in more and more frequently. It taunts me, laughing in my face. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s the dreaded sentence beginning with a conjunction.

And, but, and or may get that old train engineer in the old Schoolhouse Rock cartoon pretty far, but the only place they’re taking me is straight to Crazy Town. I’m retyping this ms and repeatedly groaning louder and louder at each sentence I come across beginning with and and but. I do occasionally start a sentence with or, but not disgustingly frequently like the other two.

♫Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?♫

As I type the ms, that’s the song I hear in my head. Actually, it’s just that one line from the song because those are the only lyrics I remember clearly. I remember something about hooking up phrases and clauses, and and, but, and or getting you pretty far, but it’s that first line I still hear over and over.

♫Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?♫

Apparently, its function is to drive me absolutely batty. It does its job remarkably well, although my children do help it along. But I know I’m not the only one who goes through this (See there? I did it again!). What are the words that give you a one way ticket on the Crazy Train?

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Tagged: Saving Wonderland, Writing