What are you talking about?

[Anne Frasier]

I'm working on a second draft, and when I hit this stage I always find that one character says the same thing in many scenes, so I have to go through and weed out the repetition and replace it with lines that makes sense. With the last book one character was always saying Jesus! This time my pet response seems to be What are you talking about? Or, for a big change: I don't know what you're talking about.

Ugh.


If someone says something that you think is bullshit nutty, what do you say?

Usable and unusable lines welcome!

[Anne Frasier]

that's like relatives telling me my book was "interesting". :D

[Erik Smetana]

I run into the same sort of issue at times, it drives me a crazy. For shorter pieces, I just muddle through it, but for longer pieces (i.e. novels) I don't use Word, I use a word processor designed for story writing that has a nifty tool that show phrase and word use % and has a few tools available to help correct it. I still repeat stuff, I just have an easier time fixing it.

In the instance you describe I might use something like, "Pardon?"

[Anne Frasier]

ooh, very cool, erik. i've heard of programs like that. i dislike stepping out of the creative process in that way, yet at the same time we really have to look at it from a different angle in order to control those annoying repetitions.

[Jude Hardin]

"Come again?"

[Anne Frasier]

oh yeah. that's a good one.

[Patrick Balester]

I find myself doing this also, and it's always a shock to discover how many times I repeat myself...after all, I'm a writer. I'm supposed to be above that sort of repetition, right?
Well, it happens.

Of course, sometimes you can use repetition to define a character, using it to give him or her that unique characteristic.

Know what I mean Vern?

[Anne Frasier]

LOL!

[Daniel Hatadi]

I see what you're doing here, trying to resurrect the Jesus! thread. I'm down with that.

There's the classic, "The fuck?"

The workhorse, "You serious?"

The chemical, "Hopped up on goof balls again?"

The herbal, "Lay off the wormwood, Jack."

And lastly, the educational, "Which language you talking, first or second?"

[Anne Frasier]

yeah, I'm a little late since Easter was last Sunday, but what the heck?

I love all of those, Daniel. and I actually think you serious might work very well for me.
I'm going to have to add many of these to my little notebook of Jesus! thread suggestions. If anybody comes across that they'll know I'm deranged.

[Angie]

"Come again?"
"Say what?"
"Um, sure."
"Oookay."
"What are you smokin'?"
"Off your meds again?"
"Someone needs a nap."
"What the funky monkey?"
"Mambo down to the banana patch?" (da hubster & I actually say this one.)

Um, stopping now...think I'm in danger of heading off into Fellini land.

[Daniel Hatadi]

I'm loving the last one, Angie. Thinking of coming up with a cocktail recipe based on it.

[Angie]

I can't actually take credit for it - Steve Martin used it on his "Wild 'N Crazy Guy" album. He was advocating teaching your children all the wrong words so they would grow up speaking an entirely different language. i.e. small child at first day of school raises his hand and says, "Excuse me, teacher. Can I mambo down to the banana patch?"

We've used it for years to replace "what the hell did you just say?"