Or, The Potential of Information.
Perhaps, The Function of Declarations.
Maybe, The Exquisiteness of Promises.
Certainly, The Attraction of Whispers.
What about, The Benefit of Written Languages?
Don’t forget, The Satisfaction of the Best Word.
Merriam-Webster presents many definitions of “word”. For example: 1) talk 2) any segment of written or printed discourse ordinarily appearing between… a space and a punctuation mark.
I like to define words as an expression of creativity—indeed, a story.
Words paint pictures that trigger emotions. Written truths may attack our pride, or inspire us to defend faith, family and friends. Advertisements are capable of manipulating our weaknesses. Profound and simple statements grab our attention and lock onto our memory. Writers of lyrics, books, commercials and articles know how to evoke empathy for infatuated hearts, or tenderness for the infirm and penitent.
Just as blue calms, red excites, and yellow brightens and inspires, (okay, some shades of yellow), the right word, or combination thereof, will create a funny, meaningful, teachable and/or painful scene.
What difference can making time to select the best words for each of our characters possibly make? Watch: https://www.webwriterspotlight.com/video/power-words
Prior to the following scene, in Sue #Grafton’s U is for Undertow, Walker McNally watched a dog being removed from a covert grave. The dog he and his friend had buried when they were younger. The dog that replaced the original burial site of the missing girl.
What do the below words make you, the reader, feel, recall, or regret?
NOTE: Not all sentences in the scene are used here.
He (Walker) reached for the wall phone and punched in Jon’s number. (reaching/punching)
A brief, wary silence, and then Jon said, “Well, Walker. This is unexpected. What can I do for you?” (brief/wary/silence/unexpected)
“You heard what’s going on?”
“What would that be?”
“They’re digging up the hill off Alita Lane. Cops, cadaver dog, evidence van, the works.” (digging/evidence)
Jon tells Walker not to be paranoid and adds, “Nothing’s going to happen.” (paranoid)
“So you’ve said, but here it is anyway.” Walker then proceeded to drink. He hadn’t drunk much for eight months, although his wife monitored him. (monitored)
Then Grafton tells us that Walker went outside sat, got restless and returned inside his house. He ordered pizza delivery, put on his sweats and slippers, and set up a TV tray with a napkin, and silverware. (restless/sweats/slippers/TV tray with all the normal dinner accessories)
Grafton ends the chapter with this sentence: All he had to do was hang tight and act like everything was fine. (act)
A word of caution: Avoid carelessly picking a synonym from a thesaurus. While synonyms have similar meaning, one word may apply more to a certain country or religion, for example, sepulture and grave.
When you write, don’t just count words—make ‘em count.