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:
(suh-GAY-shuhs)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
LikeLike
Glad your visit here was fruitful!
LikeLike
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
LikeLike
I’m sure you’ll love collecting words too! It’s a fun activity that teases and encourages the muse! Happy collecting!
LikeLike
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
LikeLike
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!
LikeLike
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!
LikeLike
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.
LikeLike
I agree, language is magical, moving… and mystical. Thanks for the visit!
LikeLike
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!
LikeLike
What a wonderful idea, PeggyLee. I’ll drop in sometime to check out your word collection. Glad you visited.
LikeLike
Love the thought of being a word “collector.” I love words, spoken and sung and written. Inspiring post. Thank you!
LikeLike
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.
LikeLike
Thank you too, for visiting. Here’s to words, lexicons, collecting and gathering!
LikeLike
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!
LikeLike