Word Count

Word counts baffle me.  I know I know - book formats change, but word count is forever - until the next edition comes out.  However,  I have never found this to be a very good gauge of how much progress I've gotten accomplished.  I could write 12,000 words of drivel.  I'd much rather have one page of something worth keeping...until the rewrites.

I must admit to never being a numbers person.  Math is my nemesis.  Numbers, like another well know count, will suck the lifeblood right out of you.

When working on a project it's best to keep the numbers out of it.  A novel can be as long or as short as you want.  That's why they invented the novella and the short story.  even a dirty limerick, if well written, is better than some tomes I've read. 

Make the words count, don't count the words.

for laughs

Said What

Other words for said in alphabetic order

• Accepted, Accused, Acknowledged, Admitted, Advertised, Affirm, Agonized, Agreed, Alleged, Announced, Answered, Appealed, Apply for, Arranged, Articulated, Asked, Asserted, Asseverate, Assumed, Assured, Attract, Aver, Avow,
• Barked, Bawl, Bawled, Beamed, Beckoned, Begged, Bellowed, Beseeched, Blubbered, Blurted, Bossed, Breathed, Broadcast,
• Cajole, Called, Carped, Cautioned, Censured, Chimed in, Choked, Chortled, Chuckled, Circulate, Claim, Comforted, Conceded, Concurred, Condemned, Confer, Confessed, Confided, Confirm, Consoled, Contend, Continued, Crave, Cried out, Criticized, Croaked, Crooned, Crowed,
• Declared, Defend, Demanded, Denote, Dictated, Disclosed, Disposed, Disseminate, Distribute, Divulged, Drawled,
• Emitted, Empathized, Encourage, Encouraged, Entreated, Exact, Exclaimed, Explained, Exposed,
• Faltered, Finished, Fumed,
• Gawped, Get out, Giggled, Given, Glowered, Grieved, Grinned, Groan, Groaned, Growled, Grumbled,
• Handed on, Held, Hesitated, Hinted, Hissed, Hollered, Howled,
• Impart, Implied, Implored, Importune, Inclined, Indicate, Informed, Inquired, Insisted, Interjected, Invited,
• Jabbered, Joked, Justified,
• Keened,
• Lamented, Laughed, Leered, Lilted,
• Maintained, Make known, Make public, Marked, Mewled, Mimicked, Moaned, Mocked, Mourned, Murmured, Mused
• Necessitated, Needed, Noted,
• Observed, Offered, Ordered,
• Passed on, Pleaded, Postulated, Preached, Premised, Presented, Presupposed, Proclaimed, Prodded, Professed, Proffered, Promised, Promulgated, Proposed, Protested, Provoked, Publicized, Published, Puled, Put forth, Put out,
• Quaked, Queried, Quipped, Quivered, Quizzed,
• Raged, Ranted, Reckoned that, Rejoiced, Rejoined, Released, Remarked, Remonstrated, Repeated, Replied, Reprimanded, Requested, Required, Requisition, Retorted, Revealed, Roared,
• Said, Sang, Scoffed, Scolded, Seethed, Sent on, Settled, Shared, Shed tears, Shouted, Shrieked, Shrugged, Shuddered, Snarled, Snivelled, Sobbed, Solicited, Sought, Specified, Spluttered, Spread, Stammered, Stated, Stuttered, Stressed, Suggested, Supposed, Swore,
• Taunted, Teased, Testified, Thundered, Ticked off, Told, Told off, Tore a strip off, Touted, Transferred, Transmitted, Trembled, Trumpeted,
• Understood, Undertook, Upbraided, Uttered,
• Verified, Vociferated, Voiced, Vouched for, Vouchsafe,
• Wailed, Wanted, Warned, Weep, Went on. Wept, Wheedle, Whimpered, Whined, Whispered,
• Yawped, Yelled, Yelped,Yowled

names

This has come up a bit lately so I'll address it here.  Names.

When naming a Character the cardinal rule is: MAKE IT PRONOUNCEABLE!

Look I don't mind made up names - heck Verall. . . Eloy (Okay I've found out that 2nd one is a real name)  Anyway.  The point is that your readers need to quickly know what your main character's name is and should be able to pronounce it. 

One example comes to mind.  Lackey's Herald Mage books has a main character named Tylindal. Ta-lynn-del . . .everyone on the project from the editors to the cover artist called him Tylenol.  

Another good example of a bad choice is Hermione.  Yes, some people do know how to pronounce it, but MANY people I knew, especially kids, had no clue and made up an alternative name to designate her. 

Now the only exception to this rule is if your character will have a nick name.  In my current project one character has a purposefully long and unpronounceable name...and because of this the other main character calls him Sunny and it sticks.

Villains are a different ball of wax.  They benefit from odd names because they are, well, the bad buy.  I would say, however, that you really should make these names obvious in HOW they are pronounced.  Liereth, or Vlad, or Waldo, or Barney.  You get the idea - odd is fine, but keep it readable.

Steer clear of that little apostrophe in names.  It looks like you are trying too hard to be exotic and it just confuses readers.  That little ' is used to denote possession so it causes the reader to jar out of the flow of your story - bad, very bad!

You should also avoid names that end in s for the same reason as above.  "Chris's sword connected down on the troll's head" OR  "Carter's sword connected with the troll's head".  Here's a good example as well - Jesus's tomb...er Jesus' tome?  err umm. Enough said on that.

basic rule: if your story is about an ordinary person in an extraordinary plot - use very recognizable names.  If your story is an extraordinary person in an ordinary world, then gussy up the name, but be prepared for a nickname or shortened version.  The name is not important.  THE PLOT IS.

It Ain't Easy Being Mean

An author I admire recently listed 5 things that a kind author would never do.  She is the queen of mean and I imagian that is why she is such a good author.

1. Keep the hero too busy to have fun
2. Make him/her socially awkward or shy
3. Make him/her young than the age of consent
4. Make him/her and addict
5. Give the hero a destiny that includes being dead.

Sage advise for every good writer.

Audience

A number of writers blogs that I follow have touched on "appropriate for audience" issues.  I thought I might share a couple of insights and my 2 cents.

There is an amazing post about teen fiction over at Cassandra Parkin's blog.  She found a sign in a book store basically telling people that the best reading for teens was vampire fiction...*sigh*

“The best reading for teens is a genre that posits sexual relationships as a physically dangerous transaction between impossibly powerful male predators and passive, helpless female prey. In this genre, sexual fulfilment is entirely within the gift of the male, to be awarded or withheld entirely as he sees fit; and the great physical beauty of the protagonists is the sole, entire basis for any romantic relationship."

Yaaaaaa.

Then I read a post that was supposedly about writing children's literature.  The author started out the post by name dropping...and who was on that list, but Stephenie Meyer.  *blink*  Basically he was claiming to have taught Mrs. Meyer, and a number of other adult authors, everything they know about writing for "kids".  *BLINK*   

NOT a good sign.

Kiddy lit... I didn't think Teen lit was consider children's literature, but what do I know I only took a number of classes on cataloging and age/genera literature.  *shrug*

I totally disagree with everything he had to say - that if you want to write for girls you need to make your main character a girl that is roughly the same age as your intended audience.  *EYE*

From my own reading experience, my 3 year old's reading experience, many MANY of my friends reading experiences, heck from YEARS of being a librarian and seeing who read what, I utterly and fanatically disagree.   In a later post he himself even talked all about how his wife and daughter loved Harry Potter; a book with a young male protagonist.

Yep!

In the end the truth of writing is two fold.

A - Write a good story, peopled with realistic and likable (or despicable) characters, and hope that you do okay.  You may not even "make it" as a writer, but you'll love what you do.

B - Sell out to the trend with a mediocre story just to make a buck and have no guilt that it's mediocrity.