tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post1888492707215306211..comments2024-03-27T10:02:56.747-04:00Comments on Fiction University: The Freedom of Placeholder Words in First Drafts Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-55334676702627427492016-03-15T13:57:25.507-04:002016-03-15T13:57:25.507-04:00Late at night is for editing worries for me. Or th...Late at night is for editing worries for me. Or the sudden realization that I made a Big blooper in the story and egad how can I fix it without a major rewrite...Rainbowhandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02742057461572523420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-2354862457708247702016-03-04T09:03:18.150-05:002016-03-04T09:03:18.150-05:00I do, though not when I'm writing :) More late...I do, though not when I'm writing :) More late at night when I can't sleep, lol.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-50850506861369655752016-02-09T13:53:29.734-05:002016-02-09T13:53:29.734-05:00It didn't take me long to learn to substitute ...It didn't take me long to learn to substitute = for " and I noticed the speed up right away. (Maybe you don't complain at yourself as you write: 'Why is this taking so long! What can I do to make it go faster?'! like I do...Rainbowhandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02742057461572523420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-42669279651642076102016-02-09T06:21:20.058-05:002016-02-09T06:21:20.058-05:00I like that, great tips. Marking clunky parts is a...I like that, great tips. Marking clunky parts is a great idea, and it never occurred to me to change my " to something faster. Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-17980801162302705222016-02-04T14:38:08.428-05:002016-02-04T14:38:08.428-05:00Yup, placeholders and fast writing tricks...so I d...Yup, placeholders and fast writing tricks...so I don't get out of the flow...<br />I use [brackets\ for 'is this the right name for this town/ character/country/ tree/ hair color/whatever.<br />I use // for 'this writing is clunky and dorky' (or words to that effect)<br />I use = instead of " because I write fast and doing a shift+" slows me down. The = are easily changed to " at the end--before I spell check... (since spell check complains about them!).<br />Rainbowhandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02742057461572523420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-31255862811715543082016-01-19T13:50:04.079-05:002016-01-19T13:50:04.079-05:00LOL. Makes it more fun to edit!LOL. Makes it more fun to edit!Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-54292504115478300832016-01-18T07:12:39.552-05:002016-01-18T07:12:39.552-05:00I definitely do this a lot. Usually I put whatever...I definitely do this a lot. Usually I put whatever the placeholder is in brackets and keep writing. It makes me smile when I go back later and come across "I thought that I would ask (what's that darn librarian's name again?) whether anyone..."Wen Baragreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17741246296963740806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-3143299109449881272015-12-28T08:04:12.797-05:002015-12-28T08:04:12.797-05:00Oo, I love the anchors use. That would be quite he...Oo, I love the anchors use. That would be quite helpful.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-78186894341996875082015-12-22T12:46:44.237-05:002015-12-22T12:46:44.237-05:00Love them! I use placeholders for names, setting d...Love them! I use placeholders for names, setting descriptions I'm not in the mood of writing right then, or even witty comebacks if I don't feel particularly witty. :D I use brackets [ ] with bolded words in between, and search for them later. :) <br /><br />Placeholders are gold when you write very fast and don't want to stop, or when you're <a href="http://www.veronicasicoe.com/blog/2015/11/writing-out-of-sequence-the-best-way-to-write/" rel="nofollow">writing out of sequence</a> and need to leave "anchors" to get back to.Veronica Sicoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03741318844378921184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-42207463055409901012015-12-18T07:28:56.466-05:002015-12-18T07:28:56.466-05:00Aside from the red, that's pretty close to wha...Aside from the red, that's pretty close to what I do. It really helps.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-8678930819269141652015-12-17T22:22:07.299-05:002015-12-17T22:22:07.299-05:00YES I'm a big user of them. I put questionable...YES I'm a big user of them. I put questionable words in bright red & parenthasese (check spelling) for easy finding, or tell myself (need better wording) to check this or that paragraph or statement (is this a repeat somewhere?) for accuracy.<br />GaleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-78476109121166246532015-12-17T07:35:08.009-05:002015-12-17T07:35:08.009-05:00Also a good way to make things stand out.Also a good way to make things stand out.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-34367125965621584712015-12-15T10:21:40.864-05:002015-12-15T10:21:40.864-05:00Another trick is to write your placeholder and Bol...Another trick is to write your placeholder and Bold it. It's one tap (ctrl-b) in Word, and the format is searchable.Ken Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02732164204232936705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-85742960988666266062015-12-15T08:34:51.492-05:002015-12-15T08:34:51.492-05:00Good one. That's not used, so it would make it...Good one. That's not used, so it would make it stand out.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-12630331688784754982015-12-15T08:34:16.257-05:002015-12-15T08:34:16.257-05:00Ooo I like that. I might steal that from you (grin...Ooo I like that. I might steal that from you (grin). I can see putting those in another color. Great tip!Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-43228235055868004842015-12-15T08:32:56.284-05:002015-12-15T08:32:56.284-05:00Easy to search on that, too. Easy to search on that, too. Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-54600785163046258672015-12-15T08:32:24.320-05:002015-12-15T08:32:24.320-05:00Nice.Nice.Janice Hardyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-27516129755501966372015-12-15T06:33:44.609-05:002015-12-15T06:33:44.609-05:00I like to use // as a placeholder as it's easy...I like to use // as a placeholder as it's easy to search and unlikely I'll overlook it.Lilith Darvillehttp://lilithdarville.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-87332188944615550232015-12-14T18:14:29.484-05:002015-12-14T18:14:29.484-05:00Great post! in my NaNo novel, i did a similar thin...Great post! in my NaNo novel, i did a similar thing with brackets and put things like {boy name} and {German word for door}.<br /><br />This is probably a bit off topic, but I also did something along the lines of "paragraph holders"(I don't know what to call them). they're kinda like long paragraphs of exposition that I'll definitely cut out when the final draft comes around. But they're there to keep me on track and remind myself of things like "this is the plan" or "these are all the details of my mysterious past"<br /><br />~K.A.C.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17431543441334581991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-47508002309305071142015-12-14T16:25:07.272-05:002015-12-14T16:25:07.272-05:00My favorite placeholder is "was" since I...My favorite placeholder is "was" since I'm not great with verbs.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16620367133264855090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-86069017223740212632015-12-14T11:42:39.420-05:002015-12-14T11:42:39.420-05:00I like to yellow highlight whatever needs to be ad...I like to yellow highlight whatever needs to be addressed. Sometimes it's an entire paragraph with the words "Boring!" at the end, other times it says "Need more description." The yellow makes the problem areas easy to find during revisions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10781210292707306077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-10549876931225792272015-12-14T10:12:23.728-05:002015-12-14T10:12:23.728-05:00I am [using placeholder words] this round -- that ...I am [using placeholder words] this round -- that is. :)H. R. Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06715450637785127208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-77030953593220034562015-12-14T10:11:50.376-05:002015-12-14T10:11:50.376-05:00I am this round and it has certainly freed up the ...I am this round and it has certainly freed up the creative process.H. R. Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06715450637785127208noreply@blogger.com