Or if it
isn’t, it should be.
Why do you
read and write? The power of our language is that it can take us anywhere. It
can create emotions, show us places we’ve never seen, allow us into the minds
of strangers –real or fictional. It allows us to communicate with each other
with varying degrees of sophistication and effectiveness. And along with all
this, language is fun.
I love
dictionaries. The English language is incredibly rich. It includes hundreds of
thousands of words (how many exactly is a difficult question, but there are
definitely a lot).
This means
that there is a word for just about everything. And for many things there are
words and words and words.
It is a
gift to have the opportunity to explore this rich vocabulary and learn new
words. There are times when I read deliberately to learn new words, but
sometimes I don’t want to face the risk of not finding words I don’t know. I
want a guarantee that something new is going to seep into my brain.
This is
when it’s time to get lost. You know that wonderful feeling when you’re in an
unknown city or town and you just wander to see what you can see. That’s what I
like to do with words. I like to get lost inside my trusty hardcopy
dictionaries, or delve into one online, or range around the dictionary on my
Kindle. I can spend hours lost in a dictionary of synonyms.
The words
you use and the way you use them is what makes your writing unique. The way you
as a writer put words into the mouths of your characters is what differentiates
them and gives them life. They are an essential tool of your trade. Put aside
some time to get lost – I’m sure you won’t regret it.
And if you
find any really great words you think others will love, please leave them in a
comment …
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