Like, you know those days when you can’t come up with new words? And every sentence is like, you know, just like all the others? (throws hands up in air)
No one wants to write or read that boringness, of course. Really, you WANT to be using the right word in your writing. You just can’t think of it!
Sometimes your brain is tired or the word you want is elusive. Perhaps you need a word you don’t even know yet! Experts do tell you not to use $5 words when 5¢ ones will work, but IMO, $2 words can be very snazzy.
[snazzy: flashily stylish]
Actually, apropos is probably a better word
[apropos: of an appropriate or pertinent nature]
When the perfect bon mot is hidden away from your fingers – find it with this very sweet (free) online thesaurus which I found today via StumbleUpon.com: SynonymFinder.com. It’s a great tool for writers, bloggers and product tagging. And, likely, keywords. You know, the obvious ones are so close to us that sometimes we don’t see them!
Even sweeter for a visual person with a word on the brain is the Graph Word feature! (Look for it on the menu bar.) It draws out a diagram showing all the words related to the word you enter. And it color codes them by part of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb.
Check out a graph of the word brain. (Caveat: maybe not for those of us with attention issues. . . )
I bet there’s an unexpected word or two for you – there was for me!
Enjoy! And let’s all write more snazzy, apropos sentences using the right words, ok?
Valuable blog subject. I must admit to checking a thesaurus when my mind is “mush” and sometimes more often than that. I have used something similar to the “Graph Word” called “Mind Map” (or called something like that) because it works well for me.
But I’m still laughing at the “Graph Word” synonym “variety meat” for brain. I’m wondering if this is similar to “pink slime” that has been in the news lately.
Yes! The variety meat threw me off for a second and I thought ew. Pink slime could very well be in the next chain of related words. 🙂
Glad you liked this.
The thesaurus is my best friend! The graph did come up with some interesting tidbits that I never would have considered. Excellent tool that I will be using!
Cool, April! Glad it will work for you.