The Word Frequency Counter
The Word Frequency Counter (WFC) is a miraculous tool largely unknown to writers. By scrupulously applying WFC principles, you will edit deliberately, accomplishing the same goals as a high-priced editor.
The power of the WFC is that it forces you to look at your words in a different way to find rough spots, unclear wordings, and things that are just plain wrong that you may not see in a straight read-through.
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 mean 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.
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 cleaned-up later, so you’re in good company.
Looking at this list, a seasoned 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.
All in One Place
The essential enhancment and polishing of your manuscript using a Word Frequency Counter is described in detail on pages 13 through 20 of How to Produce a Novel From Your Manuscript.
A list of specific words that require close inspection, how to deal with stage direction, soft words, oddballs, and with how to detoxify your manuscript are all revealed.
Key points:
- The Counter is best used in conjunction with a thesaurus.
- Check the frequency of all words. Scan the list 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” and “howevers” can be eliminated by restructuring sentences.
- Avoid stage direction: walked, turned, called, etc. Seek synonyms when these words are necessary.