tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post3319028286684717571..comments2024-03-18T09:09:59.625-04:00Comments on Janet Reid, Literary Agent: NaNoWriMo Day Three: some thoughtsJanet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-5957372630006020722017-11-03T21:16:26.251-04:002017-11-03T21:16:26.251-04:00"Just" is contagious. I caught it. I'..."Just" is contagious. I caught it. I'm blaming someone here. You know who you are.<br /><br />Why are 4,268 people raising their hands? It's like ALL the kids in day care came to class with colds. What chance does a healthy person have? Darn you, people!John Davis Frainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020019400599228492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-9477328717117843502017-11-03T19:01:29.370-04:002017-11-03T19:01:29.370-04:00Ugh, I have so many, including just, that, so (it&...Ugh, I have so many, including just, that, so (it's a long list, I won't bore you with it). <br /><br />But my biggest problem is I'll use a word, and then that particular word will seem to be stuck in my fingers and for the next so many pages it appears all the time, until another word gets stuck in my fingers. Makes editing a nightmare 0_0AJ Blythehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04529233142099749005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-19073387347076089242017-11-03T18:43:54.101-04:002017-11-03T18:43:54.101-04:00Y'all inspired today's bog post. Thanks!Y'all inspired today's bog post. Thanks!roadkills-r-ushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14029861300358380117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-56464176370303710172017-11-03T16:59:05.730-04:002017-11-03T16:59:05.730-04:00I can’t use prepositions... I use one that works b...I can’t use prepositions... I use one that works but almost always end up changing them when editing. Apparently, I don’t read prepositions.La Mandarinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16348986763062829483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-6898021124092091522017-11-03T16:00:26.540-04:002017-11-03T16:00:26.540-04:00Part of my editing time is spent running the searc...Part of my editing time is spent running the search function to catch my word tics. First drafts are so weasely.<br />Theresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165072684559960801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-38863963156490484572017-11-03T14:18:06.184-04:002017-11-03T14:18:06.184-04:00Lennon: :D
Here's Robert's link linkified...<b>Lennon</b>: :D<br /><br />Here's <b>Robert</b>'s link linkified: <a href="https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/" rel="nofollow">https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/</a>Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-45970679594095743032017-11-03T14:08:26.767-04:002017-11-03T14:08:26.767-04:00I never knew about word cloud generators. Thanks!...I never knew about word cloud generators. Thanks!<br /><br /><b>Colin</b> - Now have Billy doing that multiple times within (most likely) 40,000 words. Billy is now a wimpy rag doll!Lennon Farishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03570629350169504234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-26006904550170156432017-11-03T13:42:40.183-04:002017-11-03T13:42:40.183-04:00In addition to word tics, I have grammar tics. App...In addition to word tics, I have grammar tics. Apparently I'm madly in love with em dashes and ellipses.jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16306130399838553974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-81202409573512036082017-11-03T13:42:05.849-04:002017-11-03T13:42:05.849-04:00There is no way I could survive without online wor...There is no way I could survive without online word frequency counters. There are a bunch of free ones that count all instances of every word and list them from most to least frequent. Here is one: http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp<br />Start at the top of the generated list, find every instance in the text, and carefully decide to keep, delete, or replace.<br />Also handy and fun are word cloud generators. Cut and paste major blocks of your text and you get a great intuitive sense for some of the subconscious messages that you might be unintentionally (or intentionally) transmitting to the reader. Sometimes the results are very surprising. Here is a free word cloud generator: https://www.jasondavies.com/wordcloud/<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02694333358894726440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-28822554241207431802017-11-03T13:36:26.404-04:002017-11-03T13:36:26.404-04:00Just is one of my biggest crimes too. I always en...Just is one of my biggest crimes too. I always end up doing an edit at the end of the writitng process just to eliminate all those filler words. And to make sure my characters don't shrug too much. Somehow they always do...Kate Larkindalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06202347563426692610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-40072958513895488362017-11-03T13:31:21.338-04:002017-11-03T13:31:21.338-04:00My high school English teacher called them 'We...My high school English teacher called them 'Weasel Words'.Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12797621675670255704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-85839752584031861122017-11-03T13:23:15.622-04:002017-11-03T13:23:15.622-04:00I'm loving all these NaNoWriMo posts. I have t...I'm loving all these NaNoWriMo posts. I have the "just" tic also, along with many more. I'm attempting NaNo this year. I have two little kids and a full time job, so I giving myself some grace on the word count and reaching for 30,000 as a personal goal. 50,000 would be amazing though. I am MLLOVE on the site if any one needs another buddy.Mallory Lovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16282261391938135052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-15764613033990041202017-11-03T13:02:01.712-04:002017-11-03T13:02:01.712-04:00Should I be concerned that I'm nodding along w...Should I be concerned that I'm nodding along with every single one of the remarks? I have all the tics. Well, editor me will have to deal with that because writer me won't get anything written otherwise.<br /><br />One tip I saw was to make one of those word clouds with a finished manuscript. The more often a word is used, the bigger is is. JUST and LOOKED and ACTUALLY tend to be huge for me. Beth Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447148196867821907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-21056264903087050092017-11-03T13:01:16.536-04:002017-11-03T13:01:16.536-04:00"So, what do you want for Christmas?" sa..."So, what do you want for Christmas?" said Billy's father.<br />"I don't care. Anything," Billy said, listlessly.<br /><br />:)Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-1734477261494697512017-11-03T12:32:46.848-04:002017-11-03T12:32:46.848-04:00My characters' eyes are always doing something...My characters' eyes are always doing something. It seems natural when I'm writing, but it's overkill. "Just" is also another biggie of mine.<br /><br />When I was a kid, there was a book about a girl (super descriptive, I know). It used the word "listlessly" so many times that I wanted to rip the pages out even as a kid. Once is bad enough! My sister who read the same thing also noticed it. We still make fun of it to this day. Lennon Farishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03570629350169504234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-69864731248435359942017-11-03T12:03:48.729-04:002017-11-03T12:03:48.729-04:00Oh, yes, smiling. That's one of mine too! :) I...Oh, yes, smiling. That's one of mine too! :) I guess I want all my characters to be happy, and let you know it. :) I'm glad this fixation doesn't show up anywhere else... :)Colin Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-40741526056266168852017-11-03T12:02:00.229-04:002017-11-03T12:02:00.229-04:00I am afraid to look at my manuscript now. Stupid f...I am afraid to look at my manuscript now. Stupid filler words cavort and procreate like bunnies throughout every page I write. It is an arduous task to find them all.<br /><br />But, just so you know, I really will try. Right now, I'm actually having trouble with would. My character is faced with some unknowns and spends time speculating what would happen if, what would she do if...Ugh!<br /><br />OT-woke up to snow! RosannaMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06399732751877180737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-27254322535217547092017-11-03T11:37:17.637-04:002017-11-03T11:37:17.637-04:00"Just" and "so" are my favorit..."Just" and "so" are my favorite hobbyhorses. They're just so tempting! But at least I'm in good company. <br /><br />"At least" is another tic of mine. At least I'm aware of the problem. Fearless Reiderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12207513105790759320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-74840826740447012017-11-03T11:33:22.963-04:002017-11-03T11:33:22.963-04:00Gayle,
You said, "I wonder though if relying...<b>Gayle,</b><br /><br />You said, "I wonder though if relying on a tool like this after the fact will prevent me from learning not to use them in the first place."<br /><br />It may, but that's much better than letting Ms. Editor get in the way of Ms. Writer when it's time to write.<br /><br />On the other hand, if you can put some writing practice time to eliminate these problems, it may well help avoid them. Just don't let it get in the way of writing! That's what editing is for.<br /><br />Miles O'Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15566986720292847069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-61443552983256826682017-11-03T11:28:52.150-04:002017-11-03T11:28:52.150-04:00At least one of my editing passes- a later pass if...At least one of my editing passes- a later pass if I only do this once per ms- is for dealing with these linguistic tribbles.<br /><br />For a variety of reasons, I spent a good bit of time and energy the past year thinking about formal sentence structure, effectively diagramming sentences in my head. The result was I completely missed some of these tribbles and my professional editor was forced to attack a veritable horde of "thats" and "sos".[1] "Ands" and "buts" showed up with annoying frequency as well.<br /><br />In my own works, these are indeed best spotted after some time away from the ms.<br /><br />Beyond my common problem children, each book had a few unique miscreants as well.<br /><br />One of the side-effects of this process is that my vocabulary, which shrank over the years while spending much of my spare time with groups of teenagers, is being restored to its former glory, or at least recuperating.<br /><br />[1]How does one pluralize words being quoted this way?Miles O'Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15566986720292847069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-61712197077946025012017-11-03T11:15:36.503-04:002017-11-03T11:15:36.503-04:00I have the same problem with 'just'. I thi...I have the same problem with 'just'. I think I've trained myself out of over-using 'rather', but other words then take the place of the problematic ones I notice.sophistikittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02705390137342099193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-64624766423137068452017-11-03T10:37:57.297-04:002017-11-03T10:37:57.297-04:00I'm nodding as I read these. Yep, I do that on...I'm nodding as I read these. Yep, I do that one. Uh-huh, that one too.<br /><br />Just (ha!) last week I noticed one of my characters smiles a ridiculous amount of times. How can I show she's happy, she found that other character's comment funny, etc. other than saying she smiled? Addressing the tics is such (do I use "such" too much?) a good way to work on improving craft.<br /><br />I also find the search function helpful. And then comes the debating: keep the word, delete the word, replace the word, or make some other change?<br /><br />(Deleted one case of "just" and two cases of "that" from this comment. And I'm wondering what I've missed.)Amy Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05324408700941398495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-68297089079938773922017-11-03T10:28:29.505-04:002017-11-03T10:28:29.505-04:00It's tedious, and humbling, but I read aloud e...It's tedious, and humbling, but I read aloud every word I write--after I've done a few runs of editing. Reading aloud then renders the tics clearly. Like I said--humbling.Sherry Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04326605891373049617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-85096362816788264762017-11-03T10:24:32.296-04:002017-11-03T10:24:32.296-04:00It seems to me that when I focus in one way, somet...It seems to me that when I focus in one way, something slides in. I work better staying back far enough from that kind of introspection and focus on the bigger picture. Then my tic words rotate through some cycle I haven't yet been able to comprehend.Craig Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07157301156577795781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-64700313442287999362017-11-03T10:16:58.755-04:002017-11-03T10:16:58.755-04:00Even though I'm not NaNoing, I'm loving th...Even though I'm not NaNoing, I'm loving these posts and the comments. <br /><br />I also love the word shenanigans. And malarkey. I frequently make memes of the Proud Spirit herdies engaged in high shenanigans, or one horse who isn't gonna put up with any more malarkey, i.e. pinned ears, a swift kick, bared teeth <i>CHOMP!</i>. Melanie Sue Bowleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11820711791019410116noreply@blogger.com