#writer helo reblog
Things I wish I could tell my younger writer self…
Step away from the thesaurus. Put down that list of SAT words. Yes, those are all great words to know, I agree, but maybe they don’t ALL need to go in one story?
Because the perfect word isn’t always the right word. Sometimes the perfect word is exactly the wrong word and, actually, several not-quite right words can come together and create a better whole than that one perfect word ever could.
“It was like a conflagration lit in his chest, swallowing his heart. ”
“It was like a fire lit in his chest; one tiny spark that jumped to a bush, to a tree, to a second tree, to a third, and soon there was an entire goddamn forest fire blazing inside him, swallowing his heart.”
Writearound the perfect word. Look it up, figure out the etymology, the specifics, the nuance, and then write that into the story. Think of the perfect word, by all means, but then strap it down, slice it open, and show us its guts. Expose to the air and sunlight the places where it’s joined, where it’s been comfortable, where it’s been safe, and teasethat apart to your reader. (See? Instead of “dissect” which would have been perfect but it wouldn’t have been vivid or impactful or right)
