Do you tend to overuse words? I do, but I try to tune my editor’s radar to pick up on them. Glance, glimpse, grip. Pull, push. Look, long, make, got, grew. My favorite reference book is Bartlett’s Roget’s Thesaurus. It’s the best! If you don’t have it, it’s worth every penny. If you have a work in your head but don’t want to use it, look it up in the “index” and it takes you to a zillion places with other similar words. I have other thesauruses and dictionaries, but this is my favorite.
The Internet, of course, is a good reference tool, but I like the feel of flipping the pages. And I think or at least hope that seeing all the other words will make me smarter. LOL.
If you’re a writer, do you have a favorite reference tool? What words do you generally overuse?
2 comments:
Hi Emma! I overuse words too. It depends on my mindset as to which ones I get stuck on. They change with my moods.
I use Thesaurus.com. I have a paperback Thesaurus but it's just too darn easy to click and look up everything I want to know.
I'm bad as well about certain words. I'll get a word in my head and use it over and over... And I don't even realize I do it.
I do carry a pocket thesarus and a pocket dictionary whereever I go, just because you never know when you'll need it.. :)
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