Word Cloud!

Yesterday, I read this fabulous post by Angela, also known as the Slushpile Slut. Inspired by the brilliance and fun of these word clouds, I decided to try my own on Wordle. 

I did this purely for the fun, but it might also be useful to anyone who wants to see if they're overusing certain words in their stories. That said, believe me, if you're just looking for a fun, silly few minutes (or longer, if you want to keep throwing sections of text in), this is absolutely delightful!

My word cloud for the first five pages of ECHOES-

For a largely dialogue-free scene halfway through the book-

And for a scene near the end of the book, a scene that, by the way, just about broke my heart to write-

Useful things I've learned? Well, for one thing, I think I use the word 'just' too often. Might run a word search through the document and cut out a fair few. Not all of them, though, because I think the word fits naturally into Echo's speech and narrative pattern.

What really fascinates me about these, though, is how so many of the key words and themes in the story come through here. Words like weavers, soul, love, sculpture, never, imagine, waiting.

Conclusion? I love word clouds.