Okay, so that second contractor I was waiting for on June 25 . . . I’m still waiting. Sigh.
In the meantime . . . I’ve been reading my in-edit-cycle novel aloud. Amazing what I find when I do that. Adjectives, adverbs, and breathlessly long sentences stand out, but even more interesting is my (over)use of the same words. Face, lips, mouth, fingers, hand or some version thereof. And how many times can a character eye, smile, and grin? Present tense(s) and past tense.
Some of these edits are easy; others require deletes, total re-writes or at the minimum, re-casting the sentence. I need to pay better attention when I write.
FYI: To check how many times a word is used--in the Edit menu, do a "find" for a suspected word, then turn on "highlight" and "find all," and the computer will give a count. To turn off the highlighted words, just click off at an empty space in the document.
In the meantime . . . I’ve been reading my in-edit-cycle novel aloud. Amazing what I find when I do that. Adjectives, adverbs, and breathlessly long sentences stand out, but even more interesting is my (over)use of the same words. Face, lips, mouth, fingers, hand or some version thereof. And how many times can a character eye, smile, and grin? Present tense(s) and past tense.
Some of these edits are easy; others require deletes, total re-writes or at the minimum, re-casting the sentence. I need to pay better attention when I write.
FYI: To check how many times a word is used--in the Edit menu, do a "find" for a suspected word, then turn on "highlight" and "find all," and the computer will give a count. To turn off the highlighted words, just click off at an empty space in the document.
I’m a couple of homework lessons behind in the on-line middle-grade and YA writing course. It’s a month-long course, and I can either lurk or participate. I’ll probably just lurk but am still learning a lot from the discussions as well as from the lessons and homework. I was never a passionate childhood reader, and I need guidance on what young’uns like to read, especially today’s Now Generation.
Okay, time for a break from the computer. You keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.
cj
I call Jeff Johnston’s eagle picture “Attitude.” I love that face. Reminds me of a bad hair day.
I call Jeff Johnston’s eagle picture “Attitude.” I love that face. Reminds me of a bad hair day.
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