Fun with Word Clouds

One of my worst tendencies as a writer is to rely too much on simple and weak vocabulary. Often I’ll address this in later drafts, when the emphasis is on improving the language moreso than the plot. One of the best ways to see your own usage patterns is to use a word cloud service to visualize often-repeated words.

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asked canyon chambers city clan cloak door droba elder enough eyes fall far fissure garthim gate gelfling ground guard head heard keep landstrider legs lod looked lychar mantis mantises nodded nosun open oroki outcast podlings prophecy puppets salt sentry shouted skeksil skeksis stood thought took tower turned walls whispered wings

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This cloud is from my entry for the Dark Crystal AuthorQuest contest. The main character’s name is very prominent, as are universe-specific nouns. There are also a few weak verbs, like “turned” and “looked,” that are  being used too often. “Said,” by the way, is considered transparent, whereas “shouted” isn’t.

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andros apollo approached ark around asked atlas away beta body civilization custodian eris fellows fellowship felt floated found fragmentation friends help hundred join later light looked membrane non-andros planet reckoning revolutions sequence sidhe sisyphus species survive synchronizer think thousand titania told tranq turned universe uplift void wait walls war xix

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This one is from my novelette “In This Universe or the Next.” The story uses a lot of jargon for its far-future society, which is reflected here. However, I still have a tendency to use “turned” too often. It’s now on my “Things to Avoid” list.

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along amda arm around asked away boy canes castle count dad damn end everyone father fight gatling girl hand heard house knew knight kuhel looked mom moon mule olmo people piece pulled rag remember ruins smiled something stone stories think thought town turned voice walked wall wichalk wood yeah years

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This is the cloud for the first chapter of Herald of Change, a novel I wrote in 2007. “Count,” in this instance, is a character’s title. However, the chapter uses the verb “looked” far too often. “Something” is a weak noun, best avoided.

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administration already appointed attack authentication behind campus changing confused continue decision department discovered dress duel editorials email entire exchange fund geiss gertrude hand hanzo hesse incompetent lambast login meant network others page personally policy professor read replied smtp staff story talk think university used user vulnerability week wifi windows write

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Finally, here’s a cloud for my The Daily WTF post “Authenticated Authentication.” The post is only 750 words, so there’s less variation in word frequency. I’m happy with this cloud, with lots of strong nouns in use.

I highly recommend the use of word clouds to analyze your own writing during the revision process. See what verbal tics lurk in your own writing!