Tuesday 30 January 2018

Writing The Wedding that Changed Everything: Week Fourteen


I kept a little diary while writing my eighth book, The Wedding That Changed Everything, which I'll be sharing on the blog during the run up to publication.

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The Swear Stats
I have no problem with swearing - in books or real life - but there is such a thing as too many swears and I think I win the award for that one with the first draft of The Fairytale Effect [the working title of The Wedding that Changed Everything]. I knew there were too many as I was going through the manuscript during the second draft, but I was in for a bit of a shock when I realised just how many there were!
These were the most prolific swears (look away now if you're offended by swears):
Swear                    Number of Times Used
B*stard                                  11
F**k                                       17
Sh*t                                       46
Yep, forty-six sh*ts. In sh*t's defence, the count included words including the word sh*t - sh*te, sh*tbag, sh*tty, for example. Ok, that doesn't make it any better, does it? Not when you do some sums...
The word sh*t, in my 92,582 word manuscript, made up 0.05% of the whole book.
Swears in general, including some lesser-used ones, made up 0.1% of the book.
Not. Good.
But fear not! I have replaced most of the swears, either deleting the unnecessary ones, rewording sentences so the swears weren't needed, or replacing them with non-sweary alternatives. My sister-in-law pointed me in the direction of 101 Cuss/Swear Words Alternatives. My favourites included 'son of a bucket', 'what the frog', 'holy humus!' and 'I don't give a Donald Duck'.
Some swears have remained. The vital ones. Because sometimes only a swear will do.



Love happens when you least expect it…

Emily Atkinson stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago! She’s fed up of dating frogs in order to track down her very own Prince Charming, despite the best efforts of her matchmaking best friend…

But now she’s been invited to the wedding of the year at the enchanting Durban Castle, and perhaps bumping into a knight in shining armour isn’t as far away as she thought!

Will Emily survive the wedding and walk away an unscathed singleton – or finally find her own happily-ever-after?


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