Easy ways to add words

purplestarfish — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:22:03 -0700

Ok, for what it is worth, I just discovered (quite by accident) a very easy way to add to your word count: add a very enthusiastic waiter to your story. He doesn't have to be important plot-wise, but he can offer great customer service and provide the MCs with secials of the day information and prices. Pointless, but 'every word is a good word' this month. Does anyone else have any other ways to add to our word counts?

Re: Easy ways to add words

IVIilitarus — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:29:00 -0700

Meaningless description, explanations of workings of the universe (in brackets, scattered around text).

Re: Easy ways to add words

Elluna Hellen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:30:36 -0700

Ranting characters! Letters!

Re: Easy ways to add words

FreakierThanThou — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:52:54 -0700

Pointless backstory! I just threw in a legend about a prince and a cat. I might later on make it have something to do with my plot, but currently my first chapter is entirely establishing the setting.

Re: Easy ways to add words

m1e2l — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:55:29 -0700

Arguments are good, they drag out a bit!

Re: Easy ways to add words

strife_of_the_nation — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:12:41 -0700

Absurdly long descriptions for people and objects that have little relevance to the actual work. For example, I took an autumn leaf, added a royal helping of ridiculous description, and suddenly (two pages later) it wasn't a leaf anymore, but a dancer in a skeleton orchestra. Of course, it's completely pointless. (Unless you need a laugh; then just reread those ten pages you wrote describing the intricacies and complexities of a hatbox.)

Re: Easy ways to add words

GrabYourShovelAndDig — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:01:45 -0700

I had a character go in a long train of thought that had almost no relevance to anything that just happened. It also doubled as world building. I think.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Rubber_ducky — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:11:09 -0700

I framed my narrative. So I started in the present in first person then skipped back and did a flashback in 3rd person during which there was another flashback. There are also stupidly long descriptions of characters I don't even know if I'm going to use, and long philosophical ramblings....

Re: Easy ways to add words

superwhoshertrekkiknight — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:25:22 -0700

My poor MC just had to listen to the school news, where they named every single one of the National Merit Scholars, Finalists, Semifinalists, and Commended, not to mention all the valedictorians and salutatorians. I'm pretty sure I burned at least fifty words on names alone. And then I made her walk past the college-bound signs on her school's lawn (the signs that have the names of graduates and the colleges they're going to. I basically just went to Google Earth, searched for all the colleges and universities in her area, and put every single one of them (plus a few) into the story. Easy fifty-plus words right there :) (It works with the story, too, so I'm not really cheating.)

Re: Easy ways to add words

ilsabein — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:36:38 -0700

Each of my chapters begins with a Bible verse. In Esperanto. Which of course requires me to repeat the Esperanto Bible verse at the end of the chapter, and add to it two English translations--- one from my favorite Catholic Bible translation, and one from a Protestant translation. So that way I add a batch of 'free' words to each chapter to get my motor running. Hey, I'm up to chapter 3 already!

Re: Easy ways to add words

brian_gott — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:06:18 -0700

Begin each chapter with a quote from an in-universe historical work, along the lines of the Dune novels.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Elluna Hellen — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:47:31 -0700

At the moment, I'm having my characters tell and discuss their dreams xD.

Re: Easy ways to add words

fictionalboyfriend — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:41:27 -0700

My novel's set during the Victorian Era, so I'm going to town giving people elaborately long names and lists of titles. Her Majesty Queen-Empress Victoria is helping quite a bit.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Alina the Duck — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:01:05 -0700

Instead of my character saying God he says 'non-descript deity called God'. I will justify this by saying that he doesn't believe in said deity but doesn't see the point in saying his name.

Re: Easy ways to add words

tehic3qu33n — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:42:20 -0700

One way I've discovered, is when writing in the first person, allow your character to go off on tangent and describe thing to the reader. Like fear. Or their idea about buildings having personalities. Not only does it help flesh out the character, it can add one to two hundred words per tangent!

Re: Easy ways to add words

tehic3qu33n — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:04:07 -0700

Re: Easy ways to add words

DefiantDeer — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:18:22 -0700

Have a story within a story. ...honestly, if you can get away with a character retelling a bedtime story, flashbacks, or something like that, go for it. I know I am.

Re: Easy ways to add words

megred — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:36:47 -0700

Describe their dreams :-)

Re: Easy ways to add words

aniamolly — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:41:12 -0700

Add a random book/song/movie info. Soooooo indie~! [wat]

Re: Easy ways to add words

Lady Marvelous — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:07:22 -0700

Instead of your character taking a nap or sleeping, make them stay up all night and read a book or simply think!

Re: Easy ways to add words

MollyShort — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:17:20 -0700

Flashbacks are a beautiful invention. I was completely stuck at where I should go from yesterday and then today I went to the beginning of the chapter and inserted a flashback, now at the end of the chapter I'm inserting another. It's a way to learn about her past (and for me to learn about her past too, I'm learning a few things about her from this), plus I'll be able to get in a few more and then the big plot step will happen (there are little things here and there that I realize are plot points, but anyone reading it wouldn't realize until later :P). But I do find first person the best for getting in extra words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Alxa — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:22:48 -0700

I don't have names for my characters, just titles (the hero, his wife, their daughter...) . Figured the 'the' before titles would be useful. While I was writing today I realized if I add the name of the town as well (the sheriff of Sage Sky, etc) can add three to four words per person mention.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Gill_lliG — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:56:34 -0700

My first chapter started with a "who can catch M&Ms in their mouth" competition. It got me writing without actually steering anywhere, but being interesting, and a conversation can start from that. Random activities for the win! :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

JayChan — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:06:27 -0700

I added an easy three pages by having my MC trying to write something, but keep erasing it. This left me repeating the heading every time she started over.

Re: Easy ways to add words

fantasychallange7 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:06:28 -0700

My main female character has a nervous tic where she keeps talking, and talking, and talking, and talking... It's usually about little stuff she notices in her surroundings and such, but sometimes it can definitely be amusing as well. Also, word paddage! :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

WileJ — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:13:00 -0700

I've been extending backstory parts a little more than necessary to the plot, but necessary to my own understanding of events. Also, names. Lord Bertrand is never Bertrand. Likewise, Colonel John is never John. Well, almost never; when referred to within dialogue, they are referred to however the characters would actually refer to each other. But I do add an extra word every time they are tagged and I think I've picked up about 20-30 extra words already by simply doing that.\ Third, do not hyphenate anything. I know those word processing programs will flag them, but you only get counted for one word if it's hyphenated, so pull out the hyphen. Finally, title your chapters. Since they are part of the creative process, they count toward your final word count. And to go with that, if you're constantly moving setting, especially within chapters, start labelling that. I don't normally do this, but I've had to this year because I keep losing track of where people are otherwise since I'm balancing about three, no four actually, different converging story lines at this point.

Re: Easy ways to add words

rainbowmissy — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:29:52 -0700

My main character's best friend is always bragging about the girls he dates, his muscles, etc... He never stops talking about himself! And my main character has a lot of problems and drowns in his sorrows.

Re: Easy ways to add words

ElsaThePirate — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:41:14 -0700

Try sending your characters two a sporting event, and then have the main character explain a play by play of the game.

Re: Easy ways to add words

TrollHammer — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:44:50 -0700

My character writes in his notebook as he argues with himself. This forces a lead up to the notebook entry, reflection on the notebook entry, and the character's thoughts about the entry. easy way to kill a few hundred words and reusable throuout the story.... Too bad he gets killed off halfway through.

Re: Easy ways to add words

LycanthropesUN — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:03:17 -0700

Have a character suck at explaining something. Then, your other character(s) can get mad and demand a re-explantion! :) You can use this for stupid characters as well :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

solitaira — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:53:52 -0700

I didn't plan this, but it's awesome for my word count: have a main character who wants to be a writer and write in first person: The leaf fluttered to the ground. vs The leaf fluttered to the ground. Wait, is that descriptive enough? Mary Smith in the Writing Times always says you have to observe the world around you, or you'll never be able to capture its magic in your writing. Maybe that's why editors keep rejecting me - it's because I'm so rubbish at describing stuff like leaves. I mean, I just sit here. And I'm looking at the tree, and I'm trying desperately to come up with adjectives and exciting, action-packed verbs and even the occasional well-placed adverb - but sometimes a leaf is just a leaf, you know? It's basically just my own stream of consciousness, haha...

Re: Easy ways to add words

TheEvilMatriarch — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:34:18 -0700

Give your character a very long catch phrase, which can then be pasted whenever your wordcount needs a little buffing.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Beable — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:35:45 -0700

Make your characters angry. Really, really angry. Even better: Have a female character on PMS. Then make them complain. A lot. Then make your other angry characters complain back. Then make they fight. I think you've got yourself at least a page now, haven't ya?

Re: Easy ways to add words

RosieMcC — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:49:38 -0700

but surely that is not the object. what is the point of adding words if they do not really add to the story. A tightly written story is so much better to read.

Re: Easy ways to add words

SeleneAysel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:09:20 -0700

I'm surprisesd no one has brought this one up yet, but how about being redundant? I know that tends to happen to me, even when I least expect it. I've just recently realized that I tend to use the word "obviously" a lot lol. So, yeah. Anyone else have that problem? Granted, it's good for building up your word count, but annoying as heck in the long run.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Chantal Brigitte CB — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:08:47 -0700

be cynical and talk back in the novel like this: I am in Paris, City of Lights, France. And it all takes my breath away. (Or maybe that’s the second hand smoke invading my lungs.)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Hezzi — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:19:52 -0700

I have an empress of mermaids, and her subjects have the most annoying habit of saying 'The Mother keep her safe in Her Bosom' every time they mention her. >.< Also anyone talking to said subject about said Empress, also adds that little honorific, otherwise the Mermaid goes on a tangent about why the Empress shouldn't be disrespected so. My humans are going to have a right good time being scared witless by an nasty Mermaid. Also, I have a prayer which is Exactly 105 words long. All my characters are pretty religious, and my Human especially will sit and recite the prayer, even if they can't make it to worship. Both important to the general plot in their own ways lol.

Re: Easy ways to add words

MariannaBeavis — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:33:47 -0700

I am loving these tricks. We just have to make sure to not over do it :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Horsefeathers 151 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:43:38 -0700

I've added a flash back, which ended up very important to the plot. I've also added the chatty lunch mate. She has lots to talk about.

Re: Easy ways to add words

SpaceMarine — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:44:37 -0700

I has a bar scene, swapping waiter with bartender, but thanks!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Evenstar202 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:07:36 -0700

I'm kinda new here, and I have tried to start a new novel, but I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to write it? Help PLEASE!!!!

Re: Easy ways to add words

eversomber — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:30:04 -0700

write it anywhere you like, be it on paper or a typewriter or word processor. You don't actually use this site to write your novel, you just update the word count here and can post excerpts and info on your novel

Re: Easy ways to add words

persekore — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:36:44 -0700

Bubbly housewives are also lovely stock characters to drop in when wordcount starts lagging, or plot feels stiff. They also have a perfectly legitimate reason to have an opinion about absolutely everything, and to voice that opinion frequently (perhaps even multiple times).

Re: Easy ways to add words

blue bishop — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:05:00 -0700

My plan is to finish the novel with everything that I want to say. Then go back and add charater development scenes, people and talking over radio and TV. If that still doesn't work, I can add more dialouge.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Mimiyu — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:01:24 -0700

Don't know it this is easy and haven't done it myself so far but this just came to me: You could have a character always apologizing for everything even when it's not their fault. Plenty of words if the character apologizes in a longwinded, formal way. Also, have another character getting very annoyed with them and tell them to f***ing shut it. Then the first character starts apologizing for being annoying. There could be another character in the first character's defense, saying their were only trying to be polite, which will result in the wohle group having an exhaustive discussion about the matter. Lots and lots of words I can imagine.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Excelsiorrr — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:16:52 -0700

If you have trouble adding words, then start being more descriptive! Instead of "telling" the story, "describe" the story. Hundreds of words will cover the page in no time! For example, "Mr. Johnson stepped onto his porch and thought it was a hot day outside." Instead, write "Mr. Johnson stepped onto his porch, the floor boards creaking beneath his leather boots. The screen door shut softly behind him, the only sound that greeted him in the stillness. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and he shifted uncomfortably in the heavy air, his shirt sticking to his broad frame. Even the birds were quiet as the sun positioned itself in the exact center of the sky, casting waves of heat upon the earthen shore and banishing shadows to the underworld." By adding description, you can not only make the story longer, but much more interesting!

Re: Easy ways to add words

patanalia — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:47:34 -0700

I found that I dramatize a lot of my character's reactions by making them think the same word repeatedly. I also added a lot of melodramatic flashbacks, diary entries, past letters and whatnot. Also, dedications and "note to the reader" type thingys add character and word count. Other things to bolster your word count are epilogues and (like excelsiorrr said) showing instead of telling. If you're really stuck, skip to the most interesting scenes, and come back and pad it out later. It's your novel, so play around!

Re: Easy ways to add words

the.mockingjay.pumpkin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:07:11 -0700

If you can fit in a character who's a professor or an inventor or some other ultra-brainy person, they'll use a LOT of big words, and they'll be super wordy about it, too. Instead of just saying, "yes," they might say, "Well, yes, that is the general idea, but there are a few more specifics that you need to take into account..." And it'll boost your word count quite quickly. That's what I'm doing for my MC's dad :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

tessie_11 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:52:21 -0700

One thing that has helped boost my word count was my MC has dreams, and she goes into detail describing them. They don't even have to make sense, because they are dreams, they can just be random ideas and events (or at least, my dreams are). An example would be I wrote today about her having a dream about chasing a pulsing ball of light that kept disappearing. Things like that.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Odeena — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:56:20 -0700

My trick was to add a chatty scientist who feels the need to explain every technical aspect of what happens in great detail until one or more people snap and tell him to shut up. And then he grumbles about being told to shut up. The thing is though, I'm starting to like this guy so much I might give him a more important role later in the story. He kinda grew on me :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

RainbowFishie — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:04:40 -0700

One of my characters rants on and on about his life story (and exaggerates quite a bit) Perfect way to increase your word count! :) If that doesn't work for you, spend loads of words on unnecessary descriptions. ex. His house was the messiest house she had ever been in, and she had been in quite a lot of messy houses. Dirty clothes covered every inch of the floor, which was stained with juice, grime, and all sorts of various sauces and liquids. The walls were painted a disgusting pastel yellow colors. She had always hated yellow - she found it to be an abhorrent color. Once, when she was young,

Re: Easy ways to add words

ggTabaqui — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:13:32 -0700

I just did an in-depth emotional delve into the hostess at a restaurant my main characters are eating. I don't know why. The character just seemed to pop out of the page and it added around 600 words, so......

Re: Easy ways to add words

505th — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:19:25 -0700

So far, my tricks for adding words are describing every single little thing in extreme, obnoxious detail, not using contractions, having characters that love to talk, and although Stephen King would roll over in his sleep, lots and lots of adverbs.

Re: Easy ways to add words

thepigs — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:56:58 -0700

Have your MC describe his/her morning routine. You could also tie in a dream in here. For example: Daniel woke up and wiped the sleep away from his eyes. He was reluctant to get up and wanted to bask in the euphoria of his dream. (Insert what the dream was about. Show, not tell. This will buy you 300 words or so). Finally deciding to get up, Daniel ambled to his bathroom and grabbed a grey cotton v-neck tee shirt on the way there. The cold wooden floor of his bare-walled room was cold and he shivered involuntarily. (Insert why his walls were bare/a certain color/filled with band posters, ect. Should add 100 words). He stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror in the bathroom and shook his head to wake himself up. (Insert his daily routine and explain the dream a little more and what he's going to do today. About 200 words). Yawning like a cat that just woke from a nice nap, Daniel stretched and put on his dark blue denim jeans he bought two weeks ago over his red plaid boxers. (Describe what he wears. 50 words). BAM. 700 words (including the words I actually wrote) and he hasn't even left his room yet. It's an easy way to get more words without moving further into the plot of your story and sort of combines a few of the suggestions made before. Excuse my spelling errors and incorrect usage of a word or something 'cause it's 11:56PM and I made up the example on the spot XD

Re: Easy ways to add words

formedhippo — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:07:00 -0700

four words: stuh- stuh- stuh- stutter

Re: Easy ways to add words

Jeff Karlson Katz — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 03:30:39 -0700

Things I have used: have characters and cities with multiple word names. Mary Ann. The summoner. Port Thompson City. It may not seem like much but it will add up especially if they are important. have each chapter title be a sentence long, or use quotes as epigraphs, or something at the head of each chapter. have some or all of the narrative be tied in with an introspective character's thought process. Basically have it be stream of conscious (hopefully from the char's point of view and not mine) and just write whatever I think they might think. prologue/epilogue. They don't even have to relate (that much) to what you're talking about but they can give you are large chunk. tell multiple narratives (I was told once that the definition of a novel was a more than one story). One novel I did had some chapters telling about what went on in the present, while other chapters would consist of the MCs describing what happened to them in the past. extended metaphors. Not only are these hella fun, but they add girth to your novel, like a the bag of a cautious thief at a bank vault, hastily shoving any cash he can grab like a contestant on a supermarket gameshow, adding anything that will fit inside the cart to it as they pus hit along. Whoa, that was a metaphor within a metaphor. Okay that one really sucked but it's like 3am and I really should go to bed instead of write. Trust your instincts. Maybe what you wrote is not the best thing you ever wrote, but you only get one best thing you ever wrote, so whatever you have is good enough. No need to worry about editing it until December.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Souronella — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:00:29 -0700

My original novel for this year starts with a semi-meaningful diary, which had me a couple of hundred works. Her persona is more of a writer who doesn't like to share things, so diaries work ;) Also, she makes poems (although it takes time to write too) and it added to the word count. But she's modern and has an internet life. So, she also writes there and sometimes finds that her stories are taken from her life. So that's more words, a backstory and a realization that *could* become a *little* interesting. Since her story starts in the first day of college, I could've sworn one whole chapter was dedicated to expressing her feelings and what the university hall (and her classroom) looked like. Imagery = the baws. As long as it works, at least. Nonetheless, around 1.5k for diary and walking through the hall...and sitting down. Besides, adding imagery makes the reader feel that they're actually there. Since I said 'original', I set it aside and started another one. This MC has a lot of fear, and I thought I needed to show how life and family is all against her efforts, so she also writes in her diary. Now, I have the archetypal mother. You know...the ones who talk and talk and talk (I actually meant lecture lecture lecture *cough*) and make a big fuss out of everything. After all, it's easy to write something you actually experience. :> Also, not necessarily talkative, but people who talk due to odd personality traits. Like, the one who feels that they need the check on every single thing every single minute of everyday just to make sure that every single one of them is working perfectly. An apologizer, a neurotic, someone with speech tics, a workaholic, a daydreamer, a drama-queen/king, someone who thinks they need to be there for someone and tends to give long philosophical speeches. Also, a perfectionist character or an artist. They have the tendency to nitpick most of the time. :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Nisha A. Halim — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:28:43 -0700

Add an IM cnversation with the names of both people before their lines. I have afew and it really helps that and they are super easy to write. :D I hope this helps some of you.

Re: Easy ways to add words

505th — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:53:02 -0700

I figured out another really ridiculous way to add words that would never be acceptable in an actual novel. But, words are words, aren't they? If you know a lot about history, have your MC pick up a book about history, and explain what they're reading about. For example, right now, my MC is waiting for a store to open, and she conveniently has a book about the fall of the Roman Empire with her... So now I'm explaining how the Roman Empire fell, even though my story has nothing to do with history. I know it's terrible writing, but I think my plot is only going to last for like 30,000 words, so I'm just trying to do whatever I can to add words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

iamchloehughes — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:10:12 -0700

I find it easy for characters speaking in the first person to do a type of "step-back" scene and relay a previous incident or moment in time, of which you can use immense descriptive powers and easily use up 500+ words. For example the girl in my story has severe depression, and it's implied that she has to keep a diary for her therapist to read, although the actual narration that she's doing is more of an overlook on one particular story. Occasionally I bring in an excerpt from said diary. The most recent was describing the day she first attempted to commit suicide and I wrote over 1,000 words very quickly. Doing it this well as well is so easy because you don't have to keep up a sophisticated language, well unless your character is sophisticated. Mine is a 16 year old girl, so she can swear and use incorrect grammar and elongate her sentences in unnatural ways and it's great!

Re: Easy ways to add words

BritannianAngels — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:48:01 -0700

It has been mentioned, but not stated clearly and plainly, that possibly the best way to add words to your novel this year is have a character who, when in most situations, talks quite formally and without any kind of contraction. This leads to long sentences, which leads to more words. It looks really weird though.

Re: Easy ways to add words

VaingloriousFae — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:03:22 -0700

I have a jester that speaks in long, insulting riddles. The dialogue he has with the prisoners gives me ~100 words every tangent he goes on. Also, if you have a military, describe the ranks and what it takes to be promoted and why someone would want to stay in a certain rank. For example, the Rooks are usually power hungry policemen-esque figues who have the ability to basically boss the civilians around whenever they want. Meanwhile, the Knights and Bishops are very heroic figures who are very ceremonial. Also, describing local traditions/rituals can kill >100 words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

josiehinrichs — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:17:38 -0700

I have a new character in my book, so people have to keep filling her in on the stories behind inside jokes. It's great, I think I've spent about 500 words on that alone so far.

Re: Easy ways to add words

C.J. Sandiego — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:48:15 -0700

Really long and descriptive chapter titles are my personal favorite. :) Just to pad out 50-80 words here and there.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Pretentious — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:55:27 -0700

I have a couple of neat waitresses in amongst the mess I call my 50,000 words I believe.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Mister Pold — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:43:11 -0700

It's a little thing, but I'm writing science fiction and so I make sure to give my starships and planets names that are multiple words long and mention them a lot. (like Tau Ceti and Col Fodor).

Re: Easy ways to add words

SpaceMarine — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:19:55 -0700

Character development. Some nice wordage and you get more sympathetic characters. My advice: keep going until you can imagine a long conversation with your character on the fly.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Pavlowsdog — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:42:02 -0800

Probably said before, let your MCs play Scrabble. I know mine will.

Re: Easy ways to add words

WhistlePocky — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:55:10 -0800

Just have a character who pointlessly narrates EVERYTHING in their world and and their head like my friend does to me constantly. Oh, wait no it's annoying as all heck. Great tips here guys. My novel could use far more chattery dialogue.

Re: Easy ways to add words

bloodonmytypewriterkeys — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:25:26 -0800

Write in non-chronological order. With multiple narrators. Then you have multiple life stories to tell as subplots the moment you get bored with the main plot.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Feena — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:37:59 -0800

As mentioned earlier, no contractions at all, but as the characters are Victorian it does not sound too strange. Also that key on my laptop keeps sticking so does not work properly anyway. Flashbacks, daydreams, nightmares. I am writing a bit of a melodrama which does make it easier. I can throw in a "riding accident" scene, "terrible storm" scene", "kidnapping" scene, etc. and think of something new if I am stuck. Like an "attack by a jaguar" scene"! And there is going to be a ball so lots off description there.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Chumsy17 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:03:01 -0800

I have a monkey that speaks in Spanish, and another random word-count getting character who also speaks Spanish. They have long rambly conversations, and then my MC, who doesn't speak Spanish, gets them to translate it for her. Throw in grumblings about "can't you speak english" "I heard my name, what did you say" and "why do I have to translate for you", and you've got a ton of words!

Re: Easy ways to add words

NewTimeLord — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:34:05 -0800

If your character writes something down or tells someone about something that they've already done, you could say exactly what they wrote or said instead of saying "SHewrote what she saw" or "He told the other boy what happened."

Re: Easy ways to add words

SearchingForSanity — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:42:50 -0800

There are a few things I've been doing since the first to help me stay ahead: 1. Give every chapter 2 or 3 names. I put one I might actually use, and then as many verbose and ridiculous ones as I can think of. 2. No contractions, It sounds funny, but it helps a lot 3. TANGENTS! I've (I have- see? two words for the price of one!) developed a bad habit of giving a long backstory in the middle of a quote("Wait," he hesitated, looking around him. Ever since he was a little boy, blah blah blah. "I have to go to the bathroom."), but I can edit that later, right? So far I have consistently written 2,000 words a day and still haven't hit the real meat of the story. Maybe I should actually start the action now... Hmm...

Re: Easy ways to add words

skarlatha — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:46:47 -0800

I had a character sit through an entire church sermon, including hymn-singing. Which meant I had to WRITE a church sermon, but still. It was relevant to the plot, but it wasn't strictly necessary to have the whole sermon written out. >:) In addition, I call my MC's parents "Matthew's mother" and "Matthew's father" or "Mr./Mrs. Landers" every time even though it would make more sense to call them by their given names.

Re: Easy ways to add words

PygmyAlpaca — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:10:25 -0800

I have my character write diary entries every so often, which gets me anywhere from 100-700 words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

supersinger473 — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:21:34 -0800

I have a scientist who likes to ramble on a lot and as part of the testing where they need to see how she reacts to blatant lies he read her a fairy tale.

Re: Easy ways to add words

rainbowmissy — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:51:54 -0800

My character and his best friend really like going out for coffee and tea. Coffee dates make for a lot of words. It helps a lot because they're both indecisive, and take forever to order, and once they finally get their drinks, and have all the caffeine in their systems, they never shut up.

Re: Easy ways to add words

FantasyWriterGirl — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:59:05 -0800

Whenever they find a random book lying around, I make them read it aloud. Or if they have an amazingly inspirational speech to give, I write the entire thing, even if it hardly makes sense.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Willow. — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:27:27 -0800

Card games. Have some four characters play a crad game. I just got done with explaining a game of uno in great detail. It's also a great way to reflect the characters feeling about one another. One of my characters was using it as a way to channel revenge. Weird but whatever, it helps with word cout most definitely

Re: Easy ways to add words

Septimus Pfluger — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:43:14 -0800

I was writing a satire for creative writing, so I had a character show it to my MC randomly at a bar. It added 1.5k to my word count, and finished my creative writing assignment. Double score!

Re: Easy ways to add words

wintermuse — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:12:15 -0800

I got desperate today, and after writing a long rambling email (and realising it'd distracted me from writing my novel) decided to use most of my email as dialogue between characters.

Re: Easy ways to add words

HoneyB — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:30:15 -0800

Continually forget one of your main character's names and use a different word in its place (his name is Jeffrey, not Jeremy)! To be serious, I'm adding in small bits of waffle that I can see being excised upon revision/editing, but they're also offering up words (for instance, Jeffrey smelled some fast food someone had brought with them on to the underground, giving me a paragraph about his eating habits at home re. ordering in or cooking his own).

Re: Easy ways to add words

Mushzoom — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:53:00 -0800

So someone has probably said this already, but since I randomly had this idea, I'll share. ^_^ My apologies if I'm repeating anyone. Whenever I have a transition, but I'm not ending the chapter. (Like a break, where the character is in one location, it breaks, and it's skipped forward a bit), I put the words, "Awkward Transition". +2 words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

BlackwoodForest — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:05:00 -0800

my story is sci-fi, so i have a lot of fun making long descriptions about their technology and people and buildings, basically their world needs a lot of description to keep things unconfusing anyways, so i work with it.

Re: Easy ways to add words

SomthingSimple — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:40:56 -0800

Someone else may have said this but if you're in need of some extra words add a really bubbly character. I've been doing this with one of my characters and since she's bubbly and talks alot she has been giving me alot of words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Patron1121 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:45:42 -0800

My characters are participating in NaNoWriMo in a NaNoWriMo novel. It's like Inception, but with NaNoWriMo .__.; So there are some passages from their works. Also, describing actions (such as how one facepalms instead of "he/she/it/xi facepalmed"), describing settings in detail, and the constant bickering between two of the main characters helps a lot.

Re: Easy ways to add words

intrikate — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:21:48 -0800

My MC has been to both a flea market and an estate sale. Opportunities to describe lots of random junk for sale.

Re: Easy ways to add words

CyraEm — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:39:29 -0800

Describe their thoughts as it goes. I'm reading a book like this right now so I've been experimenting with it and it's great. It basically goes like: "Outside, there was a shopping cart rammed up against his door again. Patrick ran it into a hedge, then went back to wait for Manda. He had stupidly left his jacket in the store. He stood with his back against the wall and let his gaze fall on a dark-looking truck parked right at the back of the lot. What Derek did with the running shoes was teh exact kind of thing Ronnie would have done if he'd lived to see the store open. [After a two paragraph description of his father.] After his mother died, Patrick hung out at the house a lot to keep his father company." At this point it switches from him at the store to an instance with his father the year before. It then waxes poetic again and leads into another scene from six months before with his father. Then it comes back to the parking lot and it's obvious that all of the other scenes were things he was mulling over. It's the same as saying he stood in the parking lot thinking about his father, but it takes up five pages. The novel I got that from takes place over a really uneventful week, but is 254 pages, so I'd say it works. :P

Re: Easy ways to add words

patanalia — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:07:38 -0800

I cheat a lot--I spell out Every SINGLE Damn Number that is unfortunate enough to come my way, and use bullet points for my index (adds abt 25 words). Also, for those who know the Eragon series, Christopher Paolini gets away with inserting poems whenever the action slows down. Easy peasy.

Re: Easy ways to add words

friendl — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:33:08 -0800

Mine word waster was a my MC meeting a stranger in a supermarket, and striking up a conversation. It worked!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Generalist — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:07:26 -0800

Chase scenes, especially those that resemble something like the Keystone Cops.

Re: Easy ways to add words

isis_athena — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:18:20 -0800

Ways I have found to add words is to add a proper character. No contractions, long words, very verbose. Extra wordage if he/she has a a translator to put their speech in more relateable words. Get to say the same thing twice. Another trick as mentioned by other is the random argument, extra word points if it devolves into a "Do not", "Do to" (or along those lines) argument. Phone conversations work surprisingly well for me, I am great at dialogue and suck at descriptions though so that may not be true for all. Music is also good, for both inspiration and to add words. A character who loves to sing can pack them in there.

Re: Easy ways to add words

MARES — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:49:51 -0800

Oh thats brilliant I am terrible with creating dialogue that really works... Adding another character works though my characters are forever silent 'delving in the intensity of their emotions'. But after Inserting plenty of proper characters, dot you lose track of them? I get confused half the time with too many people popping out... How can you develop them well when there are so many of them?>< Outlining and highlighting every thought of the characters works for me when it comes to adding words-a little like stream of consciousness which I have never been able to pull off effectively.

Re: Easy ways to add words

CaffeinatedTarantula — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:05:03 -0800

People who repeat themselves when they're nervous :) This has appeared a handful of times over the years in my novels, and you can add additional dialogue, too ( something liek: "You sound like an idiot when you repeat yourself!" "I do not...I do NOT....don't tell me that I do, because I do not.") etc. Also, adding song lyrics, whether it be at the beginning of a chapter or part, or just in the story.

Re: Easy ways to add words

AlwaysInADream — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:28:33 -0800

If you can't think of any new plot developments, cut to an author avatar who recaps the whole thing. 400 words, 0 effort!

Re: Easy ways to add words

JadoreChanter — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:13:38 -0800

My characther was just in and indepth dream with his true love who he recently found out was kidnapped but is not dead. He is now in the hospital after getting shot in the back by his loves captor's father so he is going to fight and get angry at the other dectetives on his case for not catching them. (My MC is a cop btw)

Re: Easy ways to add words

JadoreChanter — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:17:58 -0800

I also added a flirty nurse that has a sweet southern charm and always calls my MMC sugar and sweetie pie or darling you know, steryotyping those from the south.

Re: Easy ways to add words

YourDestiny — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:39:51 -0800

I have a VERY talkative dwarf in my book who can go on for pages. He is a bomb tester XD and one of my favorite characters to write.

Re: Easy ways to add words

KNevaM — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:49:54 -0800

I may be out of mind, but this worked for me, so I'll shate. Yesterday morning, in a desperate attempt to both up my word count and shift some things around generally, I interviewed one of my MCs about how she thought she was being written so far. Based on her commentary, I'm now rewriting some scenes. It's like "choose your own adventure," a bit, plus it lets my inner editor have a moment, in a way that actually produces words instead of bringing them to an abrupt halt.

Re: Easy ways to add words

KNevaM — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:50:26 -0800

Um. That should be "share"...

Re: Easy ways to add words

Cozcat — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 02:26:49 -0800

Find a passage or a song in another language. Have your character translate it. Maybe have a bit of commentary on how it differs from the original.

Re: Easy ways to add words

dancerofnight — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:38:20 -0800

Instead of writing Chapter One, Chapter 2, Chapter III, etc, I have chapter headings such as "Chapter People: Old Roommate" and "Chapter Random: Musings on Quotes and Nights and General Griping." It adds words as well as being different...and if your character rambles or is telling their story in 1st person, it's a good way to organize thoughts without it having to be in chronological order.

Re: Easy ways to add words

aliaswriter — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:10:57 -0800

Repeat something. In its entirety. My MC started reading a letter, then abandoned it. She goes back to it later, and has to start from the beginning again, of course. ;)

Re: Easy ways to add words

isethia — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:30:27 -0800

My characters went shopping for a house yesterday, so I looked up a bunch of homeplan websites, and used the description and list of features for the realtor's dialogue. That gave me most of yesterday wordcount, and the characters still have discuss what house they like best.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Saspirilla — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:45:46 -0800

I have a main character who has lived with several different cultures and she talks about them all in detail, especially when the male lead starts asking questions. Then she explains her back story. I'm still getting to grips with that and will probably need to construct a proper time line to get everything right. I think I've added at least 5k words which are just her explaining about the different peoples of the kingdoms. Information dumping ftw!

Re: Easy ways to add words

maddymadkin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:04:11 -0800

My story is a fantasy about fairies, and one of the characters (not an important part) is young and very enthustiastic and loves to talk to other people, tell about her life and brag about her achievements

Re: Easy ways to add words

elwrites — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:11:58 -0800

If you get stuck on a scene, whether it be boring you, or you simply cannot work out how to end it, just stop right there and skip onto the next place. The fiddly connect-y bits, you can save for the editing, rewrites or simply when you get a better idea. This is what I do :) I used to get stressed over scenes I got stuck on and had no idea how to end. It slowed down my writing and kept me on the same chapter for days (or weeks on one memorable occasion). Drafts are allowed to be rubbish (something I've had to force myself to believe over time XD), so having two scenes that don't quite gel together is always the least of my worries. :) My two cents. :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Zira_Rayner — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:48:12 -0800

Not a quick and easy one really, but it was good for about 1000 words. My FMC and MMC decided that snuggling on the couch wasn't good enough for them and...events started to occur. So there's one way. Another thing that I did was write up bios for the 13 villains, but I put it forth as an "excerpt" from a paper my FMC did at the end as an index. Quick and dirty? Likely so. Did it not only up my words but also help me flesh out villains? Very much so!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Burnt Sushi — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:19:22 -0800

Radio broadcasts. For post-apoc, dystopian, or other, it works great. My little party of survivors listens to a radio a few times a day, and the broadcast is another survivor, so there's some rambling bloggish type nonsense. Then a list of people who are n the lookout for family members, a few helpful reminders, "Remember to show up for your scheduled watch tower shift on time. Dinner will be soup tonight. Oh fu****ing joy. Oh, and it'll be served in the rec center from five to seven tonight. And to the jerk who keeps leaving his bloody clothing in the yard, enough already!"

Re: Easy ways to add words

Zozz — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:34:48 -0800

MY MC is quite the bookworm, and that makes a great opportunity for namedropping some books. I always gives them names such as ‘One Hundred and One Tales about Monsters and Magic for Every Child and Adult’ or ‘The Invention of the Spoon Ladle and One Thousand of its Less Common Uses’. It doesn't add a LOT of words, but it's certainly better than none! Also, it's fun.

Re: Easy ways to add words

chinalizard — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:39:23 -0800

Blog posts/Diary entries/Journal entries by characters.

Re: Easy ways to add words

frenziedmythology — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:02:09 -0800

Okay, this may sound stupid and it's too late for November, but maybe for next November or something like that. (Camp Nano) I don't do this, but you could have a character, maybe your main one maybe not, and have them write in a journal, and record each entry at the beginning/end/middle of a chapter. Eh, just a thought.

Re: Easy ways to add words

helltank — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:23:48 -0800

I have a flash fiction story about a character struggling with an inner, sarcastic "voice" who disapproves of the fact that he's a math prodigy. In his efforts to ignore the voice, he decides to read all the posters on a train out loud. This takes up a couple of paragraphs. Think it's a good idea?

Re: Easy ways to add words

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Re: Easy ways to add words

marisa-with-words — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:03:15 -0700

Thank you so much for this! My story takes place in a restaurant so this is perfect for me!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Chestergirl28 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:46:20 -0700

A chatty French person works as well... they just talk and talk and talk and you get to say stuff about their bubbly-ness and their cool accents!

Re: Easy ways to add words

beckyadele — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:10:27 -0700

What a great thread! I'm lagging behind already, and have plenty to say, but don't know how to milk it for every word. I've just written a couple of hundreds words of someone imagining something - there's a piece of music playing, so I've written a good 2/3 of a page about what image this creates for her. Completely irrelevant to the story, but easy, as you could just make something up. If you pick a song you like, then you can exaggerate even more and use your own imagination to create a good imaginative break! x

Re: Easy ways to add words

trezelle2 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:16:04 -0700

I inserted a very chatty receptionist. It took her over 100 words to get my poor main character signed up for classes!

Re: Easy ways to add words

rainclouder — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:27:45 -0700

Have someone at a busy place like a subway or something mistake one of the characters for someone they know, or have your character describe something someone else is doing (E.g. From her seat in the bus she could see clear across the aisle and a little bit furhter towards the back of the bus where she could see a girl asleep in a man's arms. She wondered if she would ever have arms to fall asleep in, to hold her tight, to keep her up when she is about to fall. She wondered because her arms were the only arms that chose to hold her tight. etc etc)

Re: Easy ways to add words

imawesome — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:38:47 -0700

Have a character that goes off-topic a LOT, and rants about random things, that have nothing to do with the story... My MC absolutely hates pop music and rambles about anything. Hello word count (that I desparetly need)

Re: Easy ways to add words

emolee96 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:50:09 -0800

Have your characters listen to a song. Preferably, a long song. Insert all of the lyrics of the song into your story. Extra words, in five minutes or less.

Re: Easy ways to add words

J-A-D — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:22:41 -0800

I went with the classic 'chatty narrator' myself. Not a trick I plan to reuse in the future, but it's working for this particular story.

Re: Easy ways to add words

FriendlyHobo — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:56:43 -0700

Arguments can not only drag things out they have the potential to actually be interesting, as well as hilarious. I will have characters add in so many insults to their reasonable grievances and outrages. Long, multi-adjective insults. "You stinking, idiot, pig man!" or something every freaking line it's awesome.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Angela F. — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:46:20 -0700

[quote=Rubber_ducky] I framed my narrative. So I started in the present in first person then skipped back and did a flashback in 3rd person during which there was another flashback. There are also stupidly long descriptions of characters I don't even know if I'm going to use, and long philosophical ramblings.... [/quote] Oh thank God I'm not the only person who is doing that :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

albnutty — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:41:11 -0700

Using Shakespearean insults is also fantastic ;D

Re: Easy ways to add words

Silhouette. — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:59:27 -0700

My personal favorite brand of insult is the kind that goes in-depth into someone's geneology: "Your mother was a rabies-infested swine, and your father was a dodo with gout!"

Re: Easy ways to add words

Fred E. Alex — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:26:23 -0700

Or like the beginning of every episode of Andromeda.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Sallamanda — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:47:26 -0800

I loved Dune - I'd considered doing that, it would really fit with the whole idea of my story.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Rubber_ducky — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:22:59 -0700

:D Glad I'm not either! Best tip ever and it’s considered 'literary'.

Re: Easy ways to add words

beckyadele — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:12:37 -0700

Ooh, like that! People in real life talking about their dreams always takes forever, gotta fill a few pages! x

Re: Easy ways to add words

hollyhawke — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:47:21 -0800

Awesome, and I love your synopsis too!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Lady Domino — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:49:10 -0700

That is just perfect for my next chapter which has to cover approximatly 300 years of an immortal's love life (his friends and companions are all mortal)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Taekwondodo — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:01:52 -0700

Yeah, my FMC spent some time describing how the canvas talks to her (she's a painter).

Re: Easy ways to add words

Outlier- — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:53:29 -0700

Ha, I'm doing this. One of my characters is a writer, so I wrote a synopsis and extract for one of his books and put that in. XD

Re: Easy ways to add words

Aeiouna — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:49:33 -0700

This! My MC is writing a novel, so excerpts from her work are littered throughout mine

Re: Easy ways to add words

LittleMissAwesome — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:50:42 -0800

My characters keep having flashbacks where their woodshop teacher tells them a story that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, or a moral that relates to the plot but they just brush it off. This gets especially interesting when it turns out they all have the same woodshop teacher, despite drastic age difference, different schools, and the fact that at least half of my characters are elves and pirates. Guess he just gets around.

Re: Easy ways to add words

keegan139 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:48:29 -0700

About half of my novel so far is dream sequences. Luckily, even they absolutely crazy and random dreams are technically plot relevant! (Hooray for monsters with psychic abilities)

Re: Easy ways to add words

fictionalboyfriend — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:00:28 -0700

Oh my. Well, you can always give people ridiculous numbers of middle names, too. Makes them sound old-fashioned AND ups the word count! :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

Mitchell23 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:38:03 -0700

Speaking of Shakespeare, another trick is to add in a Mercutio-like character. That guy loved the sound of his own voice and went off on tangents that lasted for pages.

Re: Easy ways to add words

LittleMissE — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 18:34:31 -0700

Definitely! Just have your main character call someone a "lumpish, hell-hated deathtoken!" ;) IThat would be awesome. (I just re-read my comment, and realized I should probably clarify that I'm not being sarcastic.)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Christina Huling — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:10:39 -0800

Shakespearean insult provided by my brother: "Thy breath stinketh with the odor of foul cheese." Don't ask me, I didn't come up with that.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Elluna Hellen — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:54:44 -0700

I got from 7k to 10k in 2.5 hours doing that... Still not finished MUHAHAHAH ... Done for now though, time to sleep =P. If I can get myself off the boards...

Re: Easy ways to add words

Fred E. Alex — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:00:26 -0700

That's brilliant.

Re: Easy ways to add words

persekore — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:34:16 -0700

Oh, that's lovely, and does't actually look like padding! I will definitely have to add that as a character trait for someone reasonably important. :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

persekore — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:34:41 -0700

This absolutely would not work for anyone in my story, but it makes me really want to read yours!

Re: Easy ways to add words

Beable — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:20:46 -0700

And harder to write.

Re: Easy ways to add words

CyraEm — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:22:34 -0800

Tightness comes in editing. Right now we're just digging the clay out of the ground. Who knows? There might be something useful in that superfluous scene.

Re: Easy ways to add words

TayJay — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:21:50 -0700

Don't worry, I do that all the time. Haha.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Chantal Brigitte CB — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:06:04 -0700

So much to document – via journal, via pictures, via souvenirs (did you know the word souvenirs came from the French verb souvenir, meaning to remember?)

Re: Easy ways to add words

aftersh0cks — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:17:24 -0700

My MC has troubles with "word vomiting", repeatedly states and apologizes for this (because he's writing a book) and repeatedly goes off on random tangents about things. So far I've accumulated ... a lot of BS.

Re: Easy ways to add words

bloodonmytypewriterkeys — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:39:38 -0800

As a result of a mental illness, one of my characters can't help but parrell proccess. Except, instead of two parrallel processes, anywhere up to six. That is six completely seperate trains of thought at once. So, he goes off-topic alll the time. It is all he does. He cannot have a straight-forward conversation without accidentally scratching a masterpiece into the dirt or tapping out the 1812 overture with his fingers, etc. YAY FOR EXTRA WORD COUNT!

Re: Easy ways to add words

HCDaria — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:06:04 -0800

Oh my goodness, the first thing I thought of after reading this was Melville. I never had to read the entirety of Moby Dick, but my AP English class did read Billy Budd, Sailor, and I would say only half of the words were about the plot. Thanks for putting a smile on my face. :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

Sallamanda — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:13:41 -0800

I never thought of that - Mercutio was by far my favourite character from Romeo and Juliet, he'd be a lot of fun to write about :D

Re: Easy ways to add words

Evenstar202 — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:55:38 -0800

Gah! Please help!

Re: Easy ways to add words

TrollHammer — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:49:06 -0700

...So my problem now is that my main IS an inventor, and Im boring myself just writing it. There seems to be no end of stuff to write about and now I have to occasionally break from a segment of story and work on some other part o the story just to get things moving. I write what is going on in his head, reasoning, how he reaches a goal.... I burned 4-5k just wandering around a museum for 3.5 hours. How do I keep the story rolling?

Re: Easy ways to add words

riddikulus-grin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:57:12 -0700

AGREED. I just added around 500 words by doing this.

Re: Easy ways to add words

intrikate — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:18:26 -0800

Yep, and a secondary character wants to analyze the dreams, so there's three pages of questions and answers about the symbols in the dreams.

Re: Easy ways to add words

tessie_11 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:22:11 -0700

Yeah, same. I also had my character listening to a man arguing with someone on his cell phone. That helped with words.

Re: Easy ways to add words

RainbowFishie — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:06:09 -0700

Also, be sure to add plenty of irrelevant, 2-page long backstories :)

Re: Easy ways to add words

TrollHammer — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:53:11 -0700

Backstory is important in my story, but I have trouble with ending up with enough flashback or whatnot to move it to the beginning. Seems like I get nowhere fast, just a growing word count.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Souronella — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:04:53 -0700

almost forgot... the gossip girl who talks anything and everything under the sun, and a person who has tons of tons of hallucinations or fears or anxieties. They add much.

Re: Easy ways to add words

your biggest fan — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:10:05 -0800

[quote=TrollHammer] ...So my problem now is that my main IS an inventor, and Im boring myself just writing it. There seems to be no end of stuff to write about and now I have to occasionally break from a segment of story and work on some other part o the story just to get things moving. I write what is going on in his head, reasoning, how he reaches a goal.... I burned 4-5k just wandering around a museum for 3.5 hours. How do I keep the story rolling? [/quote] What does your MC invent? Maybe he can go on a local talk show and talk about his inventon. If the product is ready, then have your MC give a press conference. Maybe the produce already lauched and it didn't live up to it's hype. There's another press conference.

Re: Easy ways to add words

Elluna Hellen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:14:55 -0800

YES! I have a character doing NaNo too! Of course, she bases her novel off a short story (She's a rebel xD) and tells the short story. (Which totally took 3k to write xD) Then I have my other characters telling stories too, and wonder if they should participate in NaNo or not. FIVE TIMES SCOOORE!

Re: Easy ways to add words

tessie_11 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:03:54 -0800

You know, that is a great idea. Thank you, I think I might use that. :) I also have them go to a fair kind of thing, and there is a story teller there, and he tells stories in the story by the fire. It was so much fun to do, and it added lots of words!

Re: Easy ways to add words

JadoreChanter — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:14:06 -0800

I know I just took out all my contractions and added about 1000 words!

Re: Easy ways to add words

aliaswriter — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:12:55 -0800

I never write in chronological order, or else I'd still be stuck on page 1. I have headings too, it helps me know where to pick back up when I go back to a certain scene.

Re: Easy ways to add words

dragonface72 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:33:42 -0800

That two cents right there is--excuse me--some DAMN good advice.

Re: Easy ways to add words

frenziedmythology — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:48:20 -0800

Oh, whoa. That's what the person above me said. Sorry! I don't look at things before I go and do these things...