The Word Frequency Counter

How is Word Frequency Used?

WFC processes a manuscript producing a list of how often each word appears in the document. The list can be downloaded as a file and manipulated in a spreadsheet as shown in the graphic.

Even successful writers, when in the middle of sinking a ship, prowling with the walking dead, or sweating through the tension of a police standoff, spew out words in a fervor knowing they’ll be clean-up later. So, you’re in good company.

Looking at this list, a real analysis, an editor sees:

• tiresome use of the passive rather than the active voice.
• wearying overuse of bland verbs.
• tedious inclusion of unnecessary adjectives.

There may be hundreds of these issues in your manuscript.  Unaddressed, each slows the reader who trudges through words, losing focus, and is hindered in their enjoyment, making the “Wow” more elusive.

Challenging a Paradigm

There’s a perverse competition in the writing community related to word count. “I do 1,000 words every day before going to work,” one writer brags on Facebook. “I did 5,000 today,” another thumps his chest.

One can copy a few thousand words from the dictionary; the end product is alphabetic gibberish. The metric should be how many good words have been added to the manuscript.

Good words in a novel means they:

• Convey meaning, evoke emotion, and do it in the fewest number
  
• Are power words not soft words
• Are active voice not passive voice
• Are not frequently repeated
• and a whole lot more

The power of the Word Frequency Counter as a tool is how it reveals flaws in all these areas.

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Editing with Word Frequency

The following is not all-inclusive, yet highlights the most common misapplication of words. You’ll find others in your manuscript that are soft words, repetitive, or unnecessary and whose elimination “tightens” the writing.

Use the Find function in your word processor to locate the occurrence of each. Keep a thesaurus available as the WFC will pinpoint overused words that scream for synonyms.

The sample list is not fictitious. “Was” appeared 722 times in a 100,000 word manuscript I worked with recently. The clean-up reduced it’s frequency to 410. The task is not to eliminate these words, but to ensure that each occurrence is proper.

Was
“Was” indicates both soft writing and use of the passive voice. See how each change below energizes the phrase:

“Bernie was speaking to…” ==> “Bernie spoke to …”
“He was thinking…” ==> “He thought…”
“He was thanked by Bernie.” ==> “Bernie thanked him.”

After using the FIND function to highlight all the occurrences of “was” in your manuscript, meticulously review each correcting those that are in a passive voice.

You may find other issues, for example, a “was” in a line of dialog that should be an “is” in the character’s time frame, something you wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t focused on that word.

That
A word common is speech, but unneeded in most writing:

“He knew that he had enough to drink and that guzzling all night would kill him.”
==> becomes ==>
“He knew he had enough to drink and guzzling all night would kill him.”

The sentence is more powerful with the elimination of the word. However, in dialog, and in some other instances, including the word heightens clarity. Use your judgment. You won’t do away with all of them.

Really, actually, very, all, often, most, also, et. al. Read the following sentence with and without the stricken words.
“It has been argued that written dialog should emulate speech which very often uses these words. Reading literally takes more effort than hearing and unnecessary words really weary a reader. Remove all words that leave the sentence actually unchanged after their deletion, and often passages also become more dynamic.”

Other words may need to be stricken. This is where the art of editing replaces the science, and you must be astute to words that simply don’t add to the thought being conveyed.

Very is a flag to use the thesaurus:
He is very tired. ==> He is exhausted.
She told a very funny story. ==> She told a hilarious story.
He was very confused. ==> He was discombobulated.

Literally should literally never be used in a metaphor.

But and However
Verify that each use of these words is appropriate:

• Often used interchangeably, they are not. “But” indicates a contradiction to the statement that precedes, while “however” modifies or provides an exception. The difference is nuanced.
• Determine if the clauses conjoined by “but” or “however” read as well or better as two sentences.
• If these words are used often, the rhythm of the writing may become metronomic: “da but da,” “blah however blah,” “da but da…” Rewrite the sentences/clauses without “but” or “however.”

Had
Look at “had” for possible reconstruction of sentences:

“He thought about cashing-out, liquidating what he had, and running away. He had tumbled from middle-class to subsistence. His ability to endure his life had all but evaporated.”
==> reads better as ==>
“He thought about cashing-out, liquidating everything, and running away. The tumble from middle-class to subsistence crushed his ability to endure as life all but evaporated.”

Twenty-eight words becomes twenty-five and the rewrite adds the action word: crushed.

Common verbs in need of synonyms: walk, look, etc.
Find each and identify the adverb nearby. The thesaurus provides more appropriate verbs without descending into adverb hell:

• Walking happily is prancing
• Walking casually is strolling
• Strolling casually is strolling (hence the disdain for adverbs)
  Become familiar with the synonyms of these verbs so you can use them while writing; it will become automatic. The thesaurus has unique lists for verb tenses: walk, walked, walking; look, looked, saw.
• He walked a mile. ==> He trudged a mile.

Stage Direction
Writers picture the action as they type and often have selected the actors who will play their characters when Spielberg options their story.

Physical action verbs, such as walked, turned, and looked appearing on the list at high frequency must be reviewed. They are often clues that you’ve written stage direction:

“She walked to the door, turned the knob, pulled it open, then stepped into the hallway,” is a painfully protracted version of “She left the room.”

FYI: Movie scripts do not include stage direction. The movements of the actors are instructed by the director and often ad-libbed.

He turned to watch her walk toward the table. ==> He watched her stroll toward the table.
He turned his collar up and walked briskly downtown. ==> He hiked-up his collar and raced downtown.
He turned the paper over and wrote… ==> He flipped the paper and scribbled…
His face turned hot. ==> He flushed.

In this last example, it’s not a matter of the word “turned” as much as a poorly written description of what the character experienced. Self-editing, finding one offense reveals others.

Often the stage direction can simply be struck:
She turned and glared at him.
Smiling, he turned and made his way toward the elevator.

Almost and About
“Almost” and “about” are overused and characteristic of weak, wishy-washy writing.

“It was almost two o’clock when he arrived.” ==> Be decisive and concise: “He [arrived/made his entrance/barged through the door] at two o’clock.”
About a week later he died==> A week later he died.

If the time element is essential—the ghost appears at midnight—and the reader knows that, “It was almost midnight when he got to the cemetery,” doesn’t convey foreboding as well as “He crept into the cemetery five minutes before the critical hour.”

Another opportunity to spice it up: He walked almost a mile. ==> He trudged a mile.

Soft Words
Scan for soft words. “He hit the table,” ==> “He pounded the table.” For every verb, use the thesaurus to find a synonym that better describes the emotion and feeling of the scene. Sometimes you’ve used the best word, often enough you’ll find one better even if just by nuance. Perform the same review for adjectives.

Oddballs
Scan the word frequency list for unusual, non-English, or sequipedalian words. Unless that level of language is consistent with the tenor of the manuscript or the speech pattern of characters, these words should be used only once or they will stand out and could be considered pretentious.

Plethora, is a perfectly good word. Dearth, zenith, and nadir are great words. Throw them in to stimulate the reader and keep from using hackneyed phrases: not much of, the highest, the lowest, etc. Use only once per manuscript; astute readers will notice repetition.

Similarly, non-English expressions such as raison d’etre, c’est la vie, or souffler dans un violon—which won’t be on the word frequency listing—should appear in the manuscript only once… unless you have a solid reason to use them more often.

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Detoxing with the Word Frequency Counter

True story: A politician (2020), in the midst of a soaring endorsement declared a compatriot, “a mendacious individual of the highest order.” Sounds breathtaking, inspiring… except… “mendacious” means he’s a habitual liar, and while the statement was true, it wasn’t the speaker’s intent to out him. He liked the sound of the word but was ignorant of it.

You may have words in your lexicon that you rarely use—perhaps never in daily conversation—that you introduce to charge up your exposition or dialogue, as you should. They sound impressive, but… are you sure of their meaning?

• Are you using the word “literally” correctly?
• “Factoid.” It’s not a small fact any more than a humanoid is a small human.
• Flammable versus inflammable?
• Irony? Ultimate? Redundant? Nauseous versus nauseate?

Skim down the frequency list including those words that appear only once. Research the precise definition of any word for which you have the slightest uncertainty. See our Extras listing for more words that are commonly misapplied.

To Wrap Things Up

The Word Frequency Counter is employed to search-and-destroy poor and boring word usage. The examples listed are not all-inclusive. Use them as models for finding additional transgressions in your writing.

Key points:

• The Counter is often used in conjunction with a thesaurus.
• Check the frequency of all words. Scan the list from top to bottom including words that occur only once. Are you sure of their precise meanings?
• Check common words that make a moderate number of appearances: maybe, perhaps, always; and common verbs in all tenses: call, smile, feel, want, etc. Use more descriptive active-word synonyms.
• Half your “buts” can be “howevers” and half of each can be eliminated by restructuring sentences.
• Avoid stage direction: walked, turned, called, etc. Seek synonyms when these words are necessary.
  

This is the soul of good writing, of elevating your manuscript to acceptability in the marketplace. You’re organizing a few thousand words of the English language into a cogent message. Is it going to be clear, illuminating, intriguing, entertaining, enlightening? Or is it just going to be?

The WFC is an essential tool for preparing your manuscript. Should you choose to seek professional editing that editing will take less time and should be considerably less expensive if you’ve scrutinized your work in advance.

It’s a slow, exhausting process that results in a high quality manuscript, without which submission to an agent or publisher is futile and success in the marketplace is unlikely.

*Where to Find a Word Frequency Counter

Googling “Word Frequency Counter” provides a list of websites offering online analysis. Copy and paste your manuscript into their application and you’ll be provided with the word frequency listing. I’m not a great fan of loading my manuscripts or that of my clients onto anonymous websites, so some years ago I purchased and installed a program from https://www.hermetic.ch/wfca/wfca.htm on my computer providing reasonable security and more than enough functionality.

Of the free web-based WFCs, https://charactercounter.com/word-frequency-counter appears the most user friendly providing a .CSV download that is easily uploaded into a spreadsheet.

*This discussion does not constitute an endorsement and no compensation is received from these companies. This information is provided for your convenience, and it is strongly recommended that you research the applicability, usability, stability, reliability, security, and affordability of these systems for your purposes.

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