It has been often said that a writer who does not have a love for the written word cannot succeed. I honestly don’t know how true this is, but I know I love words – I enjoy reading them and it is pure pleasure to use words to create. Where this love came from, I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t learned from the grownups around me when I was young, because I am the only reader in the family.
In grade school, I remember reading book after book after book, without any prodding from my teachers, except in first grade when I was fortunate enough to have a teacher who encouraged me to read on.
As an adult, I became a feature writer and a word collector. Yes, I collect words. I store them in a file in my computer and visit my collection every now and then . Everyday I add a word to my collection. I gather words to nourish and feed my soul. I thought it was an odd thing to want to collect words until recently, when I read Priscilla Long’s book, “The Writer’s Portable Mentor.” In the early pages of the book, Long dedicated one chapter to the love of words.
What I call word collection, Priscilla Long calls word gathering. Says Long: “The writers of deep and beautiful words spend real-time gathering words.” Long encourages writers to regular allocate time to gather words. She calls this the “Lexicon Practice.” She suggests keeping a notebook where each gathered word is given half a page where one can play with the word in various ways.
It would certainly be great to someday have a Lexicon notebook of my own, but with much on my plate, for now I settle for the convenience of storing them in a computer file.
Long suggests writing words that catches one’s fancy on the Lexicon notebook. Again, maybe someday.
For now, I settle for my daily emails from Wordsmith:the magic of words. Today, A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg taught me these thing about the word sagacious:
sagacious
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
adjective: Having keen judgment or wisdom.ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin sagire (to perceive keenly). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sag- (to seek out), which is also the source of seek, ransack, ramshackle, forsake, and hegemony. Earliest documented use: 1607.USAGE:
“Even Warren Buffett is looking less than sagacious after his holding company posted its worst year ever.”
The Long and the Short; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 12, 2009.Explore “sagacious” in the Visual Thesaurus.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. -Cesare Beccaria, philosopher and politician (1738-1794)
Yes, I get a bonus quotation as a side dish!
Do you collect words too?
Oh, I love words too. I like playing with them in Scrabble. 🙂 But I’ve never considered collecting them. I think I may just start. Thanks for a fun post–from writer to writer.
http://debigraywalter.com
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Glad your visit here was fruitful!
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I enjoyed this post a lot.
Yes, I enjoy writing, and would suspect that a writer would indeed have an enjoyment of words.
I also like the idea of word collecting, because, and this is something I’ve written about many times, hearing the same concept or idea presented with a different word can make all the difference to how it is received by people.
Some words seem ridiculous when first encountered, others may have a lovely flow to the eye or the ear.
Thanks for the reminder, and an idea for a new article myself!
Gordon
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I’m sure you’ll love collecting words too! It’s a fun activity that teases and encourages the muse! Happy collecting!
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Hello, kindred spirit in the world of letters. OK, that sounds pretty lofty. But I totally agree with you about loving words!
Happy A-Z!
C is for Careers – Rhymed Acrostics at Nickers and Ink
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You just gave me a wonderful idea!! I home school my 11 year old son & he has always had a horrible time learning to spell. Maybe he can start making a word collection & using his words in different ways to help him remember how to spell them. I’m definitely going to try this, thank you!
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Oh, I hope your son will enjoy having his own lexicon! Glad you found inspiration for your son! Here’s wishing him lots of fun times collecting words!
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If I were to ever go back to school, I’d love to study linguistics. Language is so magical and moving. I love the idea of having a Lexicon notebook. It’s very inspiring.
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I agree, language is magical, moving… and mystical. Thanks for the visit!
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I do collect words. In fact, Rosanna, I’ve complied enough to send out one a week to my list, in a similar fashion you displayed above. It was a mini-brainstorm to keep engaged with my readers, supporters, and those who follow me. Loved your post!
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What a wonderful idea, PeggyLee. I’ll drop in sometime to check out your word collection. Glad you visited.
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Love the thought of being a word “collector.” I love words, spoken and sung and written. Inspiring post. Thank you!
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This is so me as well! I read through books so fast when I was younger. Every kind..the classics, romance, the silly ones. I couldn’t get enough. Then I worked in the library throughout school and took every English class I could. I also collect words..they soothe my soul.
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Thank you too, for visiting. Here’s to words, lexicons, collecting and gathering!
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Thank you for the link to this! It’s really nice to know word collecting is a hobby, so-to-speak, of so many more people than I had thought!
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