I’ve got quite a few works-in-progress, so I’m instituting a new column about a WIP on the second Wednesday of each month.

Why Wednesday? Because it begins with the same letter as WIP, and you all know how us writers love our alliteration. Why the second one of the month? Because that’s when my critique group meets, so it’s easy to keep track of. Why once a month? Because it’s a good way to make sure I have at least one post a month (which lately is about all I’m managing to do!).

My soon-to-be published novel (oh, it’s so satisfying to write that) Elixir Bound is up first. A buddy of mine from my aforementioned critique group share a Wordle of his WIP, which inspired me to create one of my own. I used the entire manuscript of Elixir and Worlde spit back this image.

That big, orange word “Katora” that dominates a huge chunk of the Wordle is the main character’s name. I think that’s fitting, especially for a YA book, because so much of the preteen/teen experience is focused on the me and discovering who you are as a person.

Many of the other large words are also character names, which I guess means my story really is about the characters. Or I just need to stop using their names so darn much! Another interesting thing I noticed is that there are quite a few body parts listed (“Lips” and “mouth” anyone! You know there’s going to be kissing in the book!). Some of my other favorite words: “Elixir,” “family,” “power,” “breath,” “fire.”

I’d love to see what kind of Wordles you all come up with!