So, the end of another week. As usual, nothing like as much done as I'd hoped at the beginning. But, I've completed the first reading and marking up of the
NaNoWriMo novel and begun the second phase, reaching chapter 3 and reducing the word count, so far, to 112,043. Along the way, I did a quick check for overused words, using
Wordle.com and started to use this to reduce the repetitions in that chapter (the illustration shows the Wordle graphic after the changes). It then seemed to make sense to extend the search for those words to the whole MS. I have the file on the
PC as a single file, since that way it's easier to make alterations that are global. Once I'd done about 4 of the repeated words, I suddenly realised this was a waste of time at this stage. I might as well wait to employ this exercise once I've made the other changes, as I'm otherwise replacing words that I might later completely remove.
I've also done a small update to the Writing Contest page - see the tab above. This is quite time consuming, but it keeps my own table up to date and hopefully allows my readers the opportunity to dip into those contests that might interest them.
I've been busy with the social networks, making changes and posts to
Facebook,
Goodreads,
LinkedIn,
Digg and tweeting on
Twitter.
I'm currently reading a thriller and I've ploughed through a good number of its short chapters whilst Valerie has been watching the sport on TV.
Had a short spell organising a replacement windscreen for the car on Saturday. What's that to do with writing? Well, the chip that caused the old screen to crack happened as I was on my way to my writing group, so a tenuous link, I think.
So, still no contests entered and no short stories sent to magazines. But the coming week....
3 comments:
I tried the Wordle,and it's neat. It was a little confusing to me, however, to try to determine how my words were used and repeated. I think I'd prefer a list of some sort, with the words and the number of times they appear in the text. How do you use Wordle? Do you look at the more prominently displayed words and try to eliminate some of the usuage?
An amusing and eucatioanl post as always Stuart. I have passed on a couple of awards for your blog. See my blog http://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/feeling-lucky/
Have a great week ahead!
Thanks, Darlene - I'm about to go out dancing with my wife, so I'll look at your site later.
Joyce; yes, the larger the word, the more often you've used it. It's then up to you to decide whether you want to reduce the numbers. I produced this Wordle in black and white so that it was easier to detect the multi-used words. It's a great tool to spot those words we use without really being aware of them.
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