Friday, March 13, 2009

Wordle and Time Turners...

Okay, I'll admit that I've read about authors using Wordle as a writing tool before, but I never realized how cool it is to see in action. I took my current WIP, Instinct, and plugged it into the form and this is what it came up with. (Click on it to see a full-sized version)

Wordle: Instinct 3-13-09

I can definitely see the merits of using this as an writer. Basically, what Wordle does is, it totals up the frequency with which you use words and then creates a word cloud out of the most used ones. The larger the size of the word in the cloud, the more prevalent it is within your manuscript. This is a great way to see if you're using certain words too often.

I haven't read all of the smaller ones on mine yet, but the large ones are right on target. I was worried for a minute when a specific name didn't appear, but then I remembered that I haven't finished writing his parts yet. Duh! It was an after thought to add more scenes with this character and sadly something that I haven't had time to do.

Time... Man, I wish I had more time to write. My life is full of appointments and caring for my crazy two-year old son (who I absolutely adore). I used to be able to sneak in a good chunk of time writing when my husband got home from work, but now he's remodeling our bathroom. It's a much-needed remodel and will help the resale value of our house, but man, I want to write for long stretches again!

I've tried staying up late writing like I did in the beginning, but I'm still recovering from my months of being sick with one thing or another and don't seem to last very long. I'd try to wake up early to get my writing done, but.... I am SO not a morning person. My characters would all meet their untimely demise rather quickly if I did that... not a good thing when I'm hoping to make this into a series, lol!

I try writing during my son's naps, but they're just not long enough. Just as I really get into a scene, he wakes up crying. He never did like waking up from naps... It really sucks to have built up all of that momentum on a scene and then have to drop it. I know that I'll be able to come back to the scene later and finish it, but it feels so good... so freeing to write when you're that in to the story, you know?

I'll definitely have to do whatever I can to find more time to write if I'm going to meet my current goal to finish the rough draft by April 30th. Either that, or I'll have to figure out how to build a time machine out of household items... anyone know where I can buy a working Time Turner? No? Drat! Oh well...

Until I blog again...
Talk 2ya later...

~Willow

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's the deal. I, too, am having issues finding time to write. I thought being off with my husband after surgery would find me writing for hours on end...but I'm finding I'm knitting and sleeping and "thinking" about writing. You and I need to motivate each other. Since I probably won't be able to come to the meeting tomorrow night, I'll email you (or vice versa) for us to come up with a way of this motivation. Such as...weekly check in's, or an email if we're particularly stuck (I check mine daily)...so, what do you think? Want to help each other? Oh, and this wordle thing is the bomb!

@GeekWillow said...

Hey Kristin! Sorry for the delay in commenting back, we've had so many appointments this week, my head is spinning. A weekly email motivation thing sounds awesome! Even if we just had to report our progress and/or word count once a week would act as good motivation. I check my email daily to so that would work well.

@GeekWillow said...

Oh yeah, and you missed a really cool meeting last night. Jon Musgrave was an awesome speaker, talking about self-publishing and his work with screenplay writing. Hope to see you there next month!

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