This Fun Activity Will Improve Your Writing
As a new writer, you’re bombarded by a surfeit (n. an overabundant supply) of advice to improve your craft. Most of it is helpful and useful such as practicing your writing every day and reading as much as you can get your eyeballs on.
You’ve researched methods for procuring (v. obtaining something, especially with care or effort) ideas for your writing. Ideas can be found in your everyday life, someone else’s life, or your imagination.
But what about words? Of course, the vocabulary we employ provides the foundation of our writing. Our words must engage our readers and form images in their minds. But what specific words should we use?
Creating a Word Hoard is a fun and worthwhile pursuit (n. an activity that one engages in as a vocation or profession) to refine your writing vocabulary. This type of compulsive collecting won’t find you on A&E’s Hoarders though. Accumulating words will enhance your vocabulary and can sharpen your writing and make it more interesting.
What is a Word Hoard?
I first saw the term in Barbara Baig’s book Spellbinding Sentences (this a fantastic guide for any writer wanting to improve their craft). A Word Hoard is an aggregation (n. a collection of units or parts into a mass or whole) of interesting, new-to-you, or otherwise useful words that a writer can use in her writing.
Where should I keep my Word Hoard?
Your Word Hoard can be kept in anything that is easily accessible; that is, a place where you can have it available while you’re writing or collecting. A Writer’s Notebook is a great place to start. Every writer should keep a notebook where he can organize his word hoard, writing ideas, and other useful information that is used to help him write.
Your Writer’s Notebook can be a physical notebook or a binder if you prefer to hand-write your work. It can be a file or folder on your computer. For word hoarding, I prefer using pen and paper because it helps my brain to retain (v. keep in one’s memory) the information better. Of course, you can…
