Friday, November 10, 2006

Overuse

In every book, I have a different habit that ends up being overused. In my last book, it was the heroine asking herself questions all the time:

What was that about? Was he going to try to get an “in” with me because he was romantically interested in her? Or did he think I’d tell him something he could use against her?

In my current work in progress, my characters keep LOOKING. They look at each other, they look at the computer, they look at the numbers on the elevator. They give looks, too. Smug looks, surprised looks, heated looks. And they don't stop there! No, they also have to look haggard, or upset, or joyful. Their injuries look painful, their surroundings look tidy. I've used every variation of "look" and all its synonyms, and I'm not even a third of the way through the book.

I'm way ahead on NaNo, though, which is a good thing, and only slightly behind on my full goal. Because the NaNo word widgets update automatically by pulling your profile number, I'm just putting mine in the sidebar now, in replace of the original participant icon.

Back to work!

4 comments:

MJFredrick said...

You're rocking on Nano!

My characters keep nodding. Freaking Bobblehead dolls.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

So are you! 4:30 in the morning, though? Gawd.

You crack me up. I think mine are doing a fair share of nodding, too. Also shrugging. They apparently don't know anything.

MJFredrick said...

LOL!!

Yeah, I have to do the 4:30 in the morning thing or I'll be cranky all day because I can't get to it.

I wonder if I'd be doing so well if I'd gone with another story.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Sounds like that means you picked the right story, right? You must be loving it to be going as fast as you are.