A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt. Mark Twain
Spunk & Bite: A writer’s guide to punchier, more engaging language & style
I admit it, I’m addicted to craft books. I love reading about writing and although I really need to pare down my collection I broke down on Saturday and bought this book by Arthur Plotnik. I’m on chapter 4, Writers Words, Drop by Dottle. A concise chapter about enriching and increasing your writers vocabulary. As Mr. Twain so eloquently put it the right word is a powerful agent.Mr. Plotnik recommends using the internet word-a-day sources such as The Word Spy and A.Word.A.Day. A fun site I just discovered is My Favorite Word, mostly because I thought I was one of few so nerdy to have favorite words. It may surprise you that there are loads of us nerdy word lovers. You can add your favorite word and discover new ones on this site.
Today, find ten new words on the Internet or in your favorite thesaurus, The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus is recommended, and use these words in a page or two of vernal longhand. Now get back to pursuit!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag