In getting ready to tutor one of my young writing students I've been studying about style and the way the words we use express that style. I've told my students for years that they need to keep increasing their vocabulary. It has been one of my goals ever since I began writing, but then I love words in general so adding more and more to my list never has been a difficult thing.
Young people however, tend to balk at the thought of looking up words in the dictionary, writing down their meanings, and then sentences using those words. That is one of the easiest way I know of though to move word expansion along.
There was a time that I wondered myself if studying words was a waste. After all, I thought, wasn't our vocabulary full enough with the words we have. Then I read somewhere, right now the publication slips my mind, that Leonardo Da Vinci kept a word journal. Every day, he discovered a new word, wrote down its connotation and denotation, and used it in sentences every where he went. He wanted to see how people reacted to the new words he used.
I found all this fascinating. Afterall, if Da Vinci studied words and kept a journal of such, I should do the same. I must admit I've not been as fastidious with my word journal as Da Vinci was with his, but that is getting ready to change. Why?
A friend and I are working on a book, tentatively titled, "A Leap Year of Words". I will not tell you the slant of give you any more information except to say it deals with words. We are excited and plan to have the proposal out by the end of the month. It will be fun.
So which word did you study today? Can you guess my word? I'll give you a hint. It's written in this blog.
Til Tomorrow~