Goliath Word Cloud

Posted on by scott

Back in 2009 I blogged a word cloud of Leviathan as a NaNoWriMo tip.

Word clouds (made easy by the lovely and clever people at Wordle) are graphic representations of which words appear, and how often, in your novel, blog, or whatever. The words are sized, of course, in relation to how many times they pop up.

Word clouds great for spotting words that a writer uses too often, like my terrible habit of people frowning before they say something, or my once-rampant obsession with the word “effulgent.”

They’re also kind of fun for creating quasi-spoilery anticipation. And with that goal in mind, I offer you the Goliath word cloud five months before the book comes out!


Click here to see the full-size version. You know you want to.

Your sharp young eyes will no doubt note that I had to remove one word from the results. It was just too spoilerizing, and rather big as you can see. But the rest remains unaltered.

Of course, certain words that are missing (or quite small) can be just as spoilery as the ones that are there. So don’t look too close unless you want to suffer from S3krit Knowledge You Cannot Forgetz.

For my own purposes, I’m glad to see that “frowned” is very wee, and “effulgent” nowhere to be found. Sadly, “barking” is smaller than I thought it would be, and “perspicacious” totally missing! (But don’t worry, “Bovril” is happily medium sized.)

Best of all, the dreaded “just” is either not there or too tiny to see, so that’s another bad habit of mine expunged. Yay.

If you’re a writer, this old NaNoWriMo post of mine will give you a few more hints how to use word clouds in your own work.

See you on Fan Art Friday!

167 thoughts on “Goliath Word Cloud”

  1. That’s really cool! Unfortunately “just” is there, pretty large, in the bottom right hand corner…

  2. I see plenty of words, but the ones ‘New’ and ‘York’ and ‘Malone’ lead me to venture a guess to the spoiler word. (That, and a rumor I heard a while back.)

    Could the spoiler word be ‘America’? After all, it would explain why it’s so big, as opposed to others. ‘Killed’, ‘kissed’, and ‘love’ don’t seem like they would be said all that much, but I’m sure the name of a place /would/ be said often.

    Just going out on a limb here. ^^

  3. JESUS CHRIST!!!!! Kate & Zena are totally right!!It does look like Bovril!!!! That is some pretty nifty censoring Scott. For a second I thought it was part of the word cloud! Haha! I’m blind…. >.<

    So I was debating this word cloud with my older sister, and she thinks that once Newkirk figures out Deryn's a woman he's gonna have a huge crush on her even if he is her sidekick, or emotionally scarred by the fact he was bested by a chic. I for one will be very disappointed if Jaspert isn't in this one.

  4. Usually the arrangement of words in a Wordle just depends on the design you pick, so I don’t think the perpendicularization (it’s a word) really means anything. Also, the old Leviathan word cloud had Deryn as a similar size, so I’m not sure if that means anything either.
    Other possible spoilered words…Darwin, Lenin (important later in WW1), Hitler (Godwin’s law), Trotsky…Charles (real ruler of Austria) or perhaps..Emperor? King?

  5. I don’t see why people are freaking out over Deryn’s name. It’s the same size as Alek’s, but hers is longer! Actually, I think Alek’s is a font size larger.

    Anyone else notice “bridge”? Also “engine.” That could just be from running walkers, but I think they’re going to have more engine trouble. (I giggle when I see how big “Aye” is.)

    “eyes” – lots of emotions; facial expressions
    “shoulder” – Mulan theory, anyone?

  6. has anyone thought that maybe the spoiler word is actually two words on top of one another or one perpendicular to another?? cause i’ve seen a lot of “no, no it CAN’T be love or kiss!” and stuff, but if there were two words i think it could work! 🙂

  7. I noticed that in almost all of Scott’s books, he uses the word “maw” at least once. (Peeps and Last Days, Leviathan, at least two of the Midnighters books, and probably Uglies too but I haven’t read those in a while.) But I guess he uses it infrequently enough that it wouldn’t come up 😀

  8. The words “spoiler” and “removed” make me want to kill myself. 🙁 The release date for this needs to be moved up because I am seriously loosing sleep over this.

  10. I especially love the words “Tell” “Voice” “Lady” “Miss” (:
    I MUST KNOW THE SPOILER WORD!!!!

  11. For a second I though it said “Hearse” and I was like OMG! WTF!
    … but then I looked closer and noticed it says “Hearst” lol

  12. Of course Alek finds out Deryn’s a girl; in fact, that’s probably what’s happening in the illustration Scott-la recently revealed, where they’re in that room with the bird thingie. Cuz think about it; Deryn knows pretty much everything about Alek, and Alek knows everything about her, except that she’s female, of course, and since it says under it “Secrets in the Rookery”, that must mean she’s telling! I guess. Something may have happened in the first chapter that’s sneaky.

    Let’s keep hoping.

  13. Errr, I really don’t like the idea of a Mulan-style reveal. It’s sort of cliché. No offense.

    And in the Leviathan cloud, “Alek” is larger than “Deryn” since approximately half of the book uses her real name due to Alek thinking that she is Dylan. However this cloud has their names the same size, so it’s pretty safe to say that Alek will find out, and will start using her real name more. Hence, “Dylan” is small-ish.

  17. Ahh, “just” seems to have appeared after all, Scott; it’s on the far right of the word cloud in orange-brown…turned, back, and just will forever be my weakness…

  20. OMG! It does look like borvil! lol!

    Ug, that spoiler removed word is killing me here! I. Must. Know.

  21. I love Nicola’s (comment 24) idea about the missing word being Tally <3

    when i saw the word hand, the first thing that i remembered was the April's Fools picture, did anyone notice Deryn was holding a hand…?
    this also gives me a headache, too many ideas but there is only one that matters and no one will know until september. sigh.

  22. @alice and RandomPieGirl – I’M NOT INSANE! Jeez, I thought I was going mad thinking I was the only one seeing the cloud as Bovril. 🙂

  23. In the U-Stream Scott did several months ago, he assured everyone that in whatever way, Alek would most definitely learn of Deryn’s true identity. So the real question isn’t, “Will Alek learn Deryn’s secret?” but, “How does Alek discover Deryn’s secret?”

  24. This is a GREAT idea for when you’re finished with a book/short story/script.
    Oh, and I really don’t want to burst your bubble…But I will. I JUST will. I really JUST wi-okay, okay, JUST is in there, and pretty large, too.

  25. @Tatters
    Oh thank goodness, I assumed I was the only one out there who devoured the details revealed from the U-Stream. I noticed that lots of people are praying that the truth will come out, when Scott already assured us that it would. Also, the question of how he finds out has been puzzling me like crazy.
    This cloud thing is so cool. I tried it on many of my own pieces and was ashamed to discover that I use the word “like” almost as much as I use my characters names, and Scott isn’t the only one who has an issue with “just”. This tool is fascinating!

  26. Lots of ‘girl’ and lots of ‘miss’ pluse ‘Deryn’ is WAAAAAY bigger than ‘Dylan’!
    Eddie Malone is BACK!
    That spoilery spot is going to bug me FOREVER (or, you know, until i read the book… which is what seems like a FOREVER away!)

  27. agggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhh NOT FAIR. I AM SOOOO MAD. but the words girl and lady tame my temper…….. a little but im still MAD.GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (angry beast noises continue til further notice)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH I am going insain.

  28. sooooo i just HAD to write a poem about my frustration so here it is. I cant believe the frustration I must stop the asphyxiation My brain will explode My mind implode Make it stop I might just POP!!!!!!

  29. Anyone else notice that “Dr.” is bigger than “Barlow”? You would think those would be the same size, right? I mean, “Lady” and “boffin” are the same size…. It makes me wonder if we will be meeting another “Dr.”

    I really hope that spoiler word will be revealed after Goliath is released. *hint hint nudge nudge* Yes, Scott? 😉

  30. I can’t find the name “Goliath” itself in the cloud (please unseal my eyes if I’m mistaken), and “Leviathan/Leviathan’s” are pretty small, but if Goliath were the missing word, how would it be a spoiler? It would only indicate that it’s an actual ship instead of “just” a metaphor…
    Good job everyone on the comments – they are a nice addition to the cloud 🙂

    —
    Claire (already a bit saddened by the thought that this will be THE END)

  31. Oh my goodness, I think I just read the synopsis.
    It’s… wow not what I was expecting…but really wow.

    Erm, Scott was the synopsis supposed to be released yet? Because I’m guessing you don’t want to give to many spoilers away but this makes it pretty easy to guess the missing word.

  33. I would but I think Scott should be the one to announce it, just on the off chance we shouldn’t have read it yet.

    There was a series that I like that once that released a synopsis a week ahead of the official one containing spoilers for the book so I just want to make sure this isn’t like that. Since I’d hate to be the one who ruins the book. D:

  35. Just realized the artwork in the Leviathan books are by Keith Thompson… go figure… Leviathan was released in 2009 and ’50 fantasy vehicles to draw and paint’ by Keith Thompson was released in 2007?? Hmmm… check out pages 54, 74, and 124… I do like me a good mystery… my guess is, Scott is a huge fan of Keith Thompson’s artwork.

  36. Aaaaahhhhh deryns name is huge! Also did anyone notice how new and york are in there…at about the same size?
    Bovril is pretty big too. 🙂
    but so is head…what does this all mean?????

  37. @heather

    um…yeah just saw the synopsis too.
    Way too much spoilery.

    I hope that’s not the actual summary for the book cover.
    But its weird how they gave the synopsis and don’t even have a cover out yet.

  38. @heather and cambile TELL ME YOU EVIL EVIL PEOPLE TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  41. RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!WHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

  42. Maybe the missing word is DEAD.

    o_O

    I had a go at a Wordle with one of my fics and I use the words ‘looked’, ‘look’ and ‘smile’ A LOT.

  43. awesomeness. love that the one word was taken out. can’t stand spoilers. I can see how this can help your writing, wether you are a beginner or like you who already rocks.

  45. Oh I remember that! I did that exactly when I was in eigth grade! My English Teacher made us put our Call of the Wild essays in that and then hang them up!

    That thing is preatty cool, yeah?

  47. I don’t think the spoiler word is Kiss or Dead. I bet it’s either Lillit or Love. I would love to see a word cloud for Behemoth and all of your other books.
    Where’s the fanart? It’s saturday!

  48. I like how Deryn’s name is the same size as Alek’s. Because people call Alek by his real name in both POV’s, meaning that Deryn will most likely be called Deryn in both POV’s. And possibly fairly soon in the book by the size of it. Not that it’s that big of a spoiler. I mean this is the last book so it would be a bit of a rip off if Deryn continues to stay a secret till the very end… Bovril seems to have a pretty big role if his name is larger than Volger’s, Barlow’s, and Dylan’s names! Anyway, I’m hating that blank space.

  49. Hate to break it to u Scott-la…. But it’s saturday…. Fanart?

    I still can’t stop studying this! Everyday I find a new word! Uggg! Wat is the stinking spoiler!

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