Identifying overused words and phrases

[Steve E]

Hi all.

 

One of the more tedious tasks of a rewrite is identifying overused words and phrases. The SEARCH function does a good job of finding them and putting them in context using the Found window. This could be enhanced if the Found window also included a found count. Yes, I know that the Find command does a Change count. You can "Replace All" of a word or phrase with itself and just get the count. But that is inelegant and lacks context for the word or phrase.

 

But what if you haven't a clue about which words or phrases are overused? What if your character is saying "Jeepers" or "I'd buy that for a dollar" far too much. How would you know? To this end I am suggesting (and not for the first time) a statistical function that could answer that question. It would operate against the entire story all at once and return a report. Not easy, I know. But doable. And Steve loves a challenge.

 

-Thoth

[Joolissa]

I'm digging this one up too, cause I really like this idea. One of my issues with a lot of books I read is the overuse of certain words or phrases (Twilight & Eragon are both huge offenders) and having read over my book I realized I have one as well! Ack! I would love to have this feature. I think it would be a really great tool in improving my writing.

- Jools

[Steve E]

Odds bodkins!

Thanks, Jools, for seconding this idea. It hasn't been getting a lot of traction. Odds bless you.

 

Now I'm getting my bodkins into a hot bath. (Twenty inches of snow in NYC last night. **Shiver**)

-Thoth

[Joolissa]

I just looked up the phrase "Odds Bodkins"

 

You're welcome! It's a great idea.

 

We got somewhere around 6-8" here.

- Jools