![[Logo]](/images/101ReasonsLogo.png "101 Reasons to Stop Writing")
You just picked it up because you want a better word than the first word that came to mind, the simplest and most obvious word.
Maybe the obvious word isn’t sufficiently fine, and you seek a preferable substitute. Maybe you don’t want to repeat the obvious word — you think it’s more fitting to use two different terms for the same thing, one of which is superior. Maybe you want to echo a phrase or idea, but in a worthier, surpassing way.
You want your writing to be better, and you’re prepared to make it better, one better word at a time.
A good idea, you think, a laudable aim, a truly meritorious aspiration.
But a better word here and there won’t make your writing suck less. It just shows that you own a thesaurus, and don’t know when to not use it.
Better to just stop writing. Better for everyone.
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Preach it! Thesaurus abuse is the greatest sin known to writing. Eyes should never vascillate. Honest.
I received feedback from a well-meaning soul who suggested that I needed to “spice up” my writing — people don’t walk, they stroll, strut, slink, shimmy, whatever. They should never just “walk”.
Uh, yeah. I always go for a shimmy with my wife around the neighborhood. Sheesh.
“Well-meaning” indeed.
The last time I went for a shimmy around the neighbourhood, the police were called. With a strut and a slink, I got off with a warning.
I truly love this one!
I have a dear friend who is getting her masters online. She had to write a paper with a designated “group,” each of them contributing such and such percentage of the paper. One of her group members was a “professional” copywriter/editor who felt that her talents would be better utilized in critiquing/editing (and, in some instances, even re-writing/wording - yes, she owns a thesaurus) everyone else’s work. This, conveniently, meant that she had to do no actual, original work on her own.
Fortunately, her draft revision had to be approved by the group before being submitted. Much to the others’ dismay, this “professional” had re-written the paper to make it, in some instances, virtually incomprehensible (primarily because she had, apparently, pulled out the old thesaurus and replaced plain English with more uppity (and often incorrect words) that completely changed much of the meaning.
When the others politely pointed out some of the errors and told her that they much preferred their own work, she became outraged. She sent them condescending emails and huffed about the entire thing, but lost to popular vote. In the end, she went to the professor and expressed her displeasure and asked to be moved to another group. He told her that she would have to ask permission from her first group (not a problem since she was such a pain in the butt and none of them could stand her).
She sent them and email explaining that she needed them to agree to the change, and closed by asking for their “Benediction” to leave the group.
Long story short: One should be required to be licensed to own a thesaurus.