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  • I love my Kindle
    by LorraineC at 20:24 on 27 April 2013
    I've been preparing my current wip for submission, i.e. the synopsis and first 3 chapters, and though I've been using my Kindle for a while now to read aloud which is a really useful tool for hearing problems with spellings, context, sentence structure and punctuation, I've also found another useful feature. As well as using the stylus to highlight a particular word and it's meaning, it also searches for that word throughout the extract.

    So I knew that I overuse the word 'clearly' as well as a couple of others, and I thought that I would search for how many times I'd used it. I was a little shocked by the results - I'd used it 12 times in three chapters. That might not seem a lot, but when the search brought back each sentence/passage I'd used it with, I found myself cringing. Now, thankfully, I'm down to just two out of twelve 'clearly's.

  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by Account Closed at 22:26 on 27 April 2013
    That's a great tip. Thanks Lorraine. I had no idea I could do this on the Kindle.

    Clearly, I've learned something new today
  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by AlanH at 06:15 on 28 April 2013
    Just being aware you're overusing a word is the key.

    I tend to overuse 'just'.

    My MS is peppered with 'really', but my MC uses it frequently in thought and speech, so it's clearly okay.
  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by EmmaH at 08:51 on 28 April 2013
    Interesting to know you can do that on the Kindle, though I have a basic one without a stylus. You can also do it in Word using the Find function, though it only highlights it one instance at a time.

    There's a couple of good websites too that will analyse your text and show up all the repetitions.

    Alan, I overuse 'just' all the time. Trouble is it's such a handy little word, with lots of nuances that can be very difficult to replace.
  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by AlanH at 09:20 on 28 April 2013
    Trouble is it's such a handy little word, with lots of nuances that can be very difficult to replace.


    It is. I need to use it only when nuance is required.

  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by LorraineC at 10:11 on 28 April 2013
    The difference is Emma is that it gives you a list that you can scroll down showing each sentence/passage you've used it with. Word can't do that, and I don't know any other app that can (although I'm sure there are probably some out there).
  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by AlanH at 10:38 on 28 April 2013
    The difference is Emma is that it gives you a list that you can scroll down showing each sentence/passage you've used it with. Word can't do that,


    I have a small laptop with Word 2010. If you do a find you get a scollable window showing each occurrence of the found word (unless you choose a word like 'the', when it refuses). Immensely useful as you can go straight to the page you want.

  • Re: I love my Kindle
    by Pen and Ink at 11:06 on 28 April 2013
    I use the Prowriting Aid website - basically free editing. You can paste sections of your book in and it comes up with all sorts of helpful info about your text - grammar, spelling, repetitions of words (the most useful aspect - I overuse 'just', sentence structure etc. Find on Word is good too as it shows all the occurrences of the word in the box on the left.

    <Added>

    Sorry about the icon - didn't mean to wink there.