diff --git a/src/next/jdbc.clj b/src/next/jdbc.clj
index 8d50c89..c4bb6ff 100644
--- a/src/next/jdbc.clj
+++ b/src/next/jdbc.clj
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
             [next.jdbc.prepare :as prepare] ; used to extend protocols
             [next.jdbc.protocols :as p]
             [next.jdbc.result-set :as rs]
-            [next.jdbc.transaction :as tx])) ; used to extend protocols
+            [next.jdbc.transaction])) ; used to extend protocols
 
 (set! *warn-on-reflection* true)
 
diff --git a/src/next/jdbc/sql.clj b/src/next/jdbc/sql.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9acad6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/next/jdbc/sql.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+;; copyright (c) 2019 Sean Corfield, all rights reserved
+
+(ns next.jdbc.sql
+  "Utilities to construct SQL strings (and lists of parameters) for
+  various types of SQL statements.
+
+  This is intended to provide a minimal level of parity with clojure.java.jdbc
+  (insert!, update!, delete!, etc). For anything more complex, use a library
+  like HoneySQL https://github.com/jkk/honeysql to generate SQL + parameters."
+  (:require [clojure.string :as str]))
+
+(defn by-keys
+  ""
+  [key-map clause opts]
+  (let [entity-fn      (:entities opts identity)
+        [where params] (reduce-kv (fn [[conds params] k v]
+                                    (let [e (entity-fn (name k))]
+                                      (if (and (= :where clause) (nil? v))
+                                        [(conj conds (str e " IS NULL")) params]
+                                        [(conj conds (str e " = ?")) (conj params v)])))
+                                  [[] []]
+                                  key-map)]
+    (into [(str (str/upper-case (name clause)) " "
+                (str/join (if (= :where clause) " AND " ", ") where))]
+          params)))
+
+(defn as-keys
+  ""
+  [key-map opts]
+  (str/join ", " (map (comp (:entities opts identity) name) (keys key-map))))
+
+(defn as-?
+  ""
+  [key-map opts]
+  (str/join ", " (repeat (count key-map) "?")))
+
+(defn for-query
+  ""
+  [table key-map opts]
+  (let [entity-fn    (:entities opts identity)
+        where-params (by-keys key-map :where opts)]
+    (into [(str "SELECT * FROM " (entity-fn (name table))
+                " " (first where-params))]
+          (rest where-params))))
+
+(defn for-update
+  ""
+  [table key-map where-params opts]
+  (let [entity-fn    (:entities opts identity)
+        set-params   (by-keys key-map :set opts)
+        where-params (if (map? where-params)
+                       (by-keys where-params :where opts)
+                       (into [(str "WHERE " (first where-params))]
+                             (rest where-params)))]
+    (-> [(str "UPDATE " (entity-fn (name table))
+              " " (first set-params)
+              " " (first where-params))]
+        (into (rest set-params))
+        (into (rest where-params)))))
+
+(defn for-insert
+  ""
+  [table key-map opts]
+  (let [entity-fn (:entities opts identity)
+        params    (as-keys key-map opts)
+        places    (as-? key-map opts)]
+    (into [(str "INSERT INTO " (entity-fn (name table))
+                " (" params ")"
+                " VALUES (" places ")")]
+          (vals key-map))))
+
+(comment
+  (require '[next.jdbc.quoted :refer [mysql]])
+  (by-keys {:a nil :b 42 :c "s"} {})
+  (as-keys {:a nil :b 42 :c "s"} {})
+  (as-? {:a nil :b 42 :c "s"} {})
+  (for-query :user {:id 9} {:entities mysql})
+  (for-query :user {:id nil} {:entities mysql})
+  (for-update :user {:status 42} {:id 9} {:entities mysql})
+  (for-update :user {:status 42} ["id = ?" 9] {:entities mysql})
+  (for-insert :user {:id 9 :status 42 :opt nil} {:entities mysql}))