Word Frequency

[Asbel]

In this thread, take something you've written - anything, be it long or short - and put it through a word counter.

Discounting prepositions and words like "he/she I/me/my", post up the three most common words you've used.

Now let's discuss what we could use instead and how to avoid overusing words.

 

[Handley_Page]

Where's the word counter please?
'cos I sure ain't doing it by hand. . . .

 

[Asbel]

You can find word frequency counters everywhere. I use this one.

http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp

 

[oggbashan]

You can find word frequency counters everywhere. I use this one.

http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp

I just tried it with Miranda The Witch.

The results were normal. Conjunctions, pronouns, short verbs etc.

The only word that was more frequent than I would have liked was "then". I am aware that I use it too often but 124 occurences in 27,000 words isn't disastrous.

1166 i
1054 the
715 to
566 and
508 a
501 her
458 you
458 she
456 was
425 of
381 that
380 me
353 we
353 it
349 my
305 in
304 as
213 miranda - main character
188 had
185 but
171 for
165 with
161 on
154 be
153 have
145 joss - secondary character
133 at
124 then
...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

This is one I just started. I'm only 3,000 words into it so far. No title even, which is unusual for me.

184 the
154 i
88 to
85 and
63 was
57 a
52 he
50 in
50 her
49 you
49 at
45 me
44 she
43 my
38 him
34 rudy - Dog belonging to the narrator (Male protag)
34 his
31 it
30 of
28 that
28 on
26 shelly - Female protag
...

 

[karaline]

I just pasted my current work in progress in -it just went over 50,000 words. after a lot of scrolling passed words like I and to and she I got to 'seemed' 124 times which tells me I should probably express my self with more confidence.

 

[oggbashan]

Tried it again with a very early story The Bridesmaids' Revenge - 18,000 words.

872 the
578 to
504 and
352 i
283 a
262 of
259 you
228 that
209 he
199 it
191 for
184 was
183 him
180 lisa - main female character
173 in
171 harold - main male character
161 had
155 with
153 but
147 her
147 as
144 we
132 be
131 she
117 on
113 his
111 have
102 all

...

56 then

 

[oggbashan]

I just pasted my current work in progress in -it just went over 50,000 words. after a lot of scrolling passed words like I and to and she I got to 'seemed' 124 times which tells me I should probably express my self with more confidence.

124 "seemed" in 50,000 words?

You don't have much of a problem. Now you are aware of it, as I am of "then", the frequency should reduce.

The statistics revealed by us so far seem to indicate that we are competent authors with a reasonable vocabulary.

 

[NotWise]

From my most recent, "Evy's Love", 7244 words. I used the counter at www.wordcounter.com, which gives the option of excluding short words. The list below is the top 25 with the short words excluded and common roots grouped together. Without the short words excluded, the most common word was "her." I find the list a little odd

evy 227 -- Main character
mindy 214 -- second character
carl 69 -- Evy's husband
back 43 -- Huh maybe because it can be a noun, a verb and a preposition
“i 37 -- self-centered characters?
hand 36
ask 29
over 28
down 27
said 24
watch 23
go 22
nano 22 -- Evy's dog
around 22
bed 21
finger 21
aaron 20 -- Mindy's husband
off 20
lip 20
pull 20
door 20
want 19
turn 19
look 19
kyle 18 -- Evy's youngest son

 

[NotWise]

I ran an earlier version of the same story through the word counter to see the effect from changes I made in response to comments here and in the feedback forum.

I added six occurrences of "said", probably by replacing narrative with dialog.

"Finger" did not occur in the top 25 in the original story but it was #16 in the edited story. I'm guessing this was because I made the sex a little more explicit.

"Breast" was at #22 in the original text, but not in the top 25 of the edited text -- don't know why I would talk less about breasts.

"Kyle" and "Aaron" came up at a nearly equal frequency in the original text, but "Kyle" dropped to #25 in the edited text. I think that was from taking out some setting descriptions that involved the boy. "Nano" dropped in frequency for the same reason.

 

[RejectReality]

You have to remember that none of these are filtering dialogue. If you drill down into individual words, you may very well find that a good chunk of the "overused" words are in there.

Muck around with the dialogue too much, and you end up making your characters sound like snooty walking thesauruses.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'd like something that picks up repeated phrases - e.g. I have a bad habit of overusing "I think".

 

[RejectReality]

https://prowritingaid.com/en/Home/Index

This one has a repeated phrases report. The free-use version only allows 3k words at a pop, but it's there.

I use it for a couple of the reports when I have time to process something in small chunks. The free version used to allow a lot more words, which made it far more useful, and a standard part of my editing process. Not so much any more.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Top 100 words of a 42,000 word story...Warrior One.

Using wordcounter.com ...

Word Frequency
ezra 483 - Main Character
ship 377
sir” 376 - oops? There is actually no occurrence of this in the story.
said 236 -Yikes
aye 221
“aye 209
two 172
gar 167 -Enemy race
sir 157
one 154 - the other half of the ships name
warrior 150 - The Ships name
admiral 149
captain 149
commander 129
back 125
candle 123 - Command Android
“y 121
just 111
time 111
“i 110
know 105
three 98
connor 94
well 94
room 94
turn 92
“very 90
look 89
mister 84
hyperspace 83
course 79
“sir 78
watch 75
over 73
order 72
“thank 71
fleet 70
bridge 70
planet 69
screen 68
crew 66
k’lar 66
see 66
minut 65
ready 65
day 64
nolan 63
call 62
get 60
go 59
down 58
good 58
command 56
“no 55
want 55
ask 55
way 54
around 54
chapter 53
left 53
cook 52
did 52
come 52
sat 51
how 50
system 49
don’t 49
smil 48
until 48
long 47
report 47
stood 47
hand 47
take 47
door 47
jump 46
first 46
off 45
macdonald 45
aldebaran 45
hour 43
answer 42
weapon 42
once 42
repli 41
light 41
beckett 41
told 40
ten 40
still 40
next 40
android 40
device 40
space 39
steel 38
fighter 38
laff 38
make 38
missil 38
didn’t 38

It would appear that the program still has some bugs. While the word Missile appears, the "missil" does not appear alone. There seem to be a lot of bugs, leaving quotes as part of the word, leaving off the final e, etc.

 

[rjordan]

Post up the three most common words you've used.

Now let's discuss what we could use instead and how to avoid overusing words.

The three most common words in the current story in progress:
Ryan
Kelly
Olivia

I'll live with the problem.

rj

 

[NotWise]

It would appear that the program still has some bugs. While the word Missile appears, the "missil" does not appear alone. There seem to be a lot of bugs, leaving quotes as part of the word, leaving off the final e, etc.

Odd. I got the '"i' and figured that to be a bug, but that was the only instance in which it included the quotation mark in the word. I didn't have a problem with it leaving off the final e.

I wonder if the difference might have something to do with the text encoding. I use utf-8 (unicode) encoding.

 

[Asbel]

From my most recent, "Evy's Love", 7244 words. I used the counter at www.wordcounter.com, which gives the option of excluding short words.

I tried using wordcounter.com myself and ended up crashing the counter, unfortunately... My current work is 63,000 words. Whoops.

The most common word, aside from prepositions and the lead sexual interest's name, is "said" at 406. I know I don't use "said" alternatives often enough but goddamn am I trying.

I had originally started this because, as it's a story about a masochist, I worried I used the word "pain" too much. It's only in there 84 times. Woo.

 

[NotWise]

The most common word, aside from prepositions and the lead sexual interest's name, is "said" at 406. I know I don't use "said" alternatives often enough but goddamn am I trying.

I was hunting around the net a few months ago for advice on writing dialog. In discussing the tags they advised that you shouldn't knock yourself out looking for "said" alternatives. That part of the dialog tag quickly becomes invisible to the reader and if you use exotic replacements then it can seem awkward for the reader.

I do look for alternatives that are more descriptive then "said", but I don't use them all that often.

 

[le_kitty]

I was hunting around the net a few months ago for advice on writing dialog. In discussing the tags they advised that you shouldn't knock yourself out looking for "said" alternatives. That part of the dialog tag quickly becomes invisible to the reader and if you use exotic replacements then it can seem awkward for the reader.

I do look for alternatives that are more descriptive then "said", but I don't use them all that often.

I've had that issue. But personally, 'said' draws me out and draws attention to itself so I also dislike using he said she said. My approach is to try move into dialogue seamlessly without using said. I usually put the dialogue after the character's thoughts, or actions, or expressions etc.

Eg. He counted nine seconds before the thunder followed the strike of lightning. Gloved hands gripped the steering wheel firmly as he cast her a grin, "You ready?"

 

[SamScribble]

I do look for alternatives that are more descriptive then "said", but I don't use them all that often.

If you need the tag to add description, it usually means that you haven't quite got the dialogue right. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he said / she said is just fine.

 

[NotWise]

If you need the tag to add description, it usually means that you haven't quite got the dialogue right. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he said / she said is just fine.

I agree, but if it's important to the story that a line is spoken quietly then I may use he/she whispered. Similarly with other modes of delivery. If it's important to the story or required by the setting then I may use something else; he/she shouted, he/she muttered and so on.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Odd. I got the '"i' and figured that to be a bug, but that was the only instance in which it included the quotation mark in the word. I didn't have a problem with it leaving off the final e.

I wonder if the difference might have something to do with the text encoding. I use utf-8 (unicode) encoding.

I use whatever the default is in Word, but the paste into the app is whatever they have the textbox set to, so what Word uses is irrelevant. Once copied out of word, it's just plain text and takes on the encoding of the destination.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I agree, but if it's important to the story that a line is spoken quietly then I may use he/she whispered. Similarly with other modes of delivery. If it's important to the story or required by the setting then I may use something else; he/she shouted, he/she muttered and so on.

Other descriptors to use instead of said...

told
replied
croaked
whispered
asked
shouted
yelled
etc.

I'm always looking for something other then the standard said...just to jog the reader a little so they pay attention to who is talking.

 

[Serafina1210]

For fun, try a word cloud generator. This one's for "Cunnilingus: A Short History," probably coming out tomorrow. Articles etc. automatically omitted. I admit I used "said" too much and have omitted that from the cloud because it hogs the picture.

 

[Asbel]

This is a fascinating discussion. And I mean that.