Do you ever go into a craft store or art store just to drool over the supplies? Pet the yarn? Run your fingertips longingly over the colored pencils or the textured paper? Or perhaps you yearn for pens that cost more than most restaurant meals. Do you consider adding fabric to a stash that you have already run out of space to store? Or maybe your artistic passion steers you towards plays, cookbooks, or camera lenses… I lust after several types of art supplies but I realized recently that I also hoard for my writing. I collect words.
Just like finding the perfect yarn might inspire a knitting binge, words are the building blocks of my craft. Without the right word on hand, I can’t work. Good words provide inspiration. Bad ones cause problems. You know, sentences sometimes lurk when they aren’t correct and then pounce at 2 am – or in the middle of dinner or perhaps when you are driving. I am very lucky that my friends and family are understanding of this and wait patiently and quietly when I drop everything to scribble down (or dictate to my phone) the perfect word or phrase to fix something that’s been niggling my subconscious.
At any given time, I likely have my manuscript pulled up in my internet browser. Besides that, the dictionary and the thesaurus are the two websites most likely to be open. The dictionary is necessary because I regularly have to make sure words mean what I think they mean (you come up with some interesting ideas when you learn a word through context/reading). The thesaurus helps jog my memory when I suffer from lethologica (← that’s a word I’ve collected because the words don’t always stay collected in my brain).
I think my obsession with words started back around middle school. I remember learning the word borborygmus (a gurgling noise made by the intestines) and thinking how delightfully apt it was. It was way better just saying ‘a tummy rumble!’
Nowadays I have a Pinterest board full of delicious words. Words that bring me joy just through their existence (mischief, fluff, apricity, lush), words that have been beautifully strung together (laughter in darkness), perfect words from other languages that don’t exist in English (fika, komorebi, orenda, and wabi-sabi), and archaic words I wish we still used (coddiwomple, evenfall). It’s not all fluff though; some of my pins are important, like lists of words to avoid. (Alas, the poor word very has been banned.) Other lists are words with quirky grammar rules like blond versus blonde depending on the gender of the hair owner; other lists, ironically enough, are about the proper terminology to use when respecting that a person prefers not to be referred to by a binary gender.
Interestingly, I am more likely to use more obscure words in conversation. I don’t have as much time to think about word choice when I am speaking. With writing though, I tend to fall back on my training in the technical writing field. Trying to write things in the most readable manner has a way of limiting your vocabulary. You stick to sturdy and well-known words (fighter rather than pugilist, or foggy instead of brumous) and lose some of the artistry in word choice. I’ve been working on reclaiming all the words. My fantabulous (← real word, did you know?) editor has been helping me with this. My editor told me that I was the first person she had to ask to increase the reading level of their writing. And let me tell you what a struggle that was! I have way too much experience going the opposite direction!
All that said, I’m starting to break away from my technical background and rediscovering my love of a beautiful turn of phrase. I love words and I’m hoping it will be contagious. So, while you may find Sub Rosa to be an “easy” (and hopefully enjoyable!) read, be prepared for a few more enchanting words to sneak into book two of the series – don’t worry, my editor won’t let me go too crazy!
Speaking of editors, I’m hoping I can retroactively slip a few changes into Sub Rosa even though I was told months ago there were to be no more changes. The word atelier is way too perfect to not be snuck into a draft at some point. And perhaps also numinous – still working out the connotations and the denotations on that one though. Finding a new word is almost like getting a whole new color to paint with!
Anyone else out there a word collector? Drop your favorite words in the comments! I can’t wait to see what I can add to my collection!