Words

Imagine a pot full of old copper pennies—now, pennies are nice. They’re great. After all, a hundred of them add up to a dollar. But somewhere, deep in that pot, clicking around with the pennies, are gold pieces. Keep digging until you find them. They are worth more. Like pennies, there are plenty of words that Are fine enough to use ... but take the time to dig for the gold word, the right word, the finest word. The word that fits just right, and tells the reader (the world) what you most want to say.

Amazing. Think about it. Every word that has ever been invented belongs to you just as much as it belongs to the most famous author, poet, fairy tale teller, or song composer. J. K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter, didn’t have access to any words that you don’t have. (Yes, some names she made up, but that was from imagination, and you have THAT, too!) She found the gold pieces. So can you. Go on a word-scavenger hunt in the dictionary and the thesaurus, explore names of plants and herbs, rivers and stars, streets, and towns. Look at maps. Look at comics. But look.