Yummy Words

Some weeks back I bought an Amazon Kindle, the new digital reader. I'm hooked. Wait! You can relax, this isn't another blog post about the Kindle. However, I do bring it up for a reason. The Kindle comes with a dictionary. If I see a word I don't know, a simple scroll of a wheel and a tap of a button will bring up a definition for every major word in the chosen sentence.

I have a better than average vocabulary. That's not to say there isn't room for improvement. I wish my vocabulary were better, as should every writer. Let's face it, our stock and trade is content and story. Whether we write for magazines, publish novels, pen devotions of nonfiction books, we live and breathe by stringing words together. Writers love words. I get a thrill from learning new terms or gaining deeper insight into words I already know. (I remember what fun it was to learned that a cupboard is a "cup board" and that necklace comes from "neck lace." I know, pretty simple if not obvious, but I had never taken note of those compound words.

I've just finished reading two novels and both sent me to the dictionary a few times. I didn't mind (especially since it only took the click of a button) and the act made me a better writer. Many years ago, William F. Buckley, Jr. came out with a series of novels featuring spy/adventurer Blackford Oaks. Buckley is known for many things: conservative politics, debate skills, editing a magazine, and much more. But when I think of him, I think of his vocabulary. I read every Blackford Oaks novel with an American Heritage Dictionary by my side. At times, looking up words unknown to me proved tedious but it was worth it.

Robert Frost said, "Life is tons of discipline. Your first discipline is your vocabulary; then your grammar and your punctuation. Then, in your exuberance and bounding energy you say you're going to add to that. And your delight is in that power." (Anyone else feel the urge to edit those sentences or is it just me?)

Words are the material we use to build cathedrals of thought, ideas, and understanding. Words are the pistons that drive our creativity. Words are our meat and drink. Many can settle for an average vocabulary but it's a crime for writer's to do so. Take the time to learn new words and use them in your craft.

ON AN UNRELATED NOTE: Today is the birthday of Earle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970), self-taught attorney, defender of the poor farm laborer, and creator of Perry Mason. He wrote 80 Perry Mason novels and 15 nonfiction books. Since there's not much money in defending farm laborers, he began writing for money. It appears he did all right at it. He commented, "I srite to make money, and I write to give the reader sheer fun."

Al Gansky

Comments

[Kay Day]

I love words, too. I love learning about their origins, Etymology? Not the study of bugs, but the study of words. Maybe I should look in a dictionary to be sure I have that right. Yes, I do have it right. I think I might even enjoy Latin.

Did ou know that one of the Perry Mason movies was filmed at Glen Eyrie?

[Alton Gansky]

Perry Mason at Glen Eyrie? Really? Hmm. I wonder which one. Maybe its on iTunes.