The Word Collector
by Yvonne
Russell,
Staff Writer
Some people collect teapots.
Others collect first edition books. Okay, I’ll admit it. My house
is full of what I like to call “eclectic collectables.” My husband
is a patient man, but I sometimes catch him casting a surreptitious
sideways glance at my teetering treasures, with a “wish we could
clear that space” type of look. I jokingly remind him of his
friend, Jim’s philosophy - “If you haven’t found a use for it, you
haven’t kept it long enough.”
That’s the way I feel about
words. Go Jim!! I am a word collector. “Serendipity”,
“synchronicity”, “segue”, “diva” and “sassy” are some of my current
favourites. I’m pretty fickle, and next week I’ll probably have
some new favorites. I have words tucked away like a collection of
smooth stones found by chance on a beach walk. I have to confess
this collection is often disorganised and scattered. Some words I
keep in the back of mind. Others are on whichever scrap of paper
happens to be the nearest to hand at the moment of discovery. In my
more organised moments, I add them to my “Idea Catcher” notebook.
Just as a musician is taken
with a particular riff he hears, or an artist admires the deft
brushstrokes of a favorite painting, I find myself plucking words
and phrases from books I read. Like a young child with a butterfly
net, my pen and notebook is ever at the ready to capture a clever
turn of phrase, an evocative description, an interesting word, or
even an everyday word used in an interesting way. I note them down
in my “Idea Catcher” book, for inspiration, or just to enjoy them at
a later time.
Sometimes, I take them out
and polish them a bit. I roll them around, listen to them and hear
their sound. I look at their colors and their nuances. Like the
stones on the beach, I like to see how they look with other words,
and I play mix and match. I think of it as making patterns in the
sand. At this stage, it’s all about experimenting and being
creative, and right and wrong don’t get a look in.
If I never use some of them,
that’s okay too. Like any collection, the joy is also in the
collecting, revisiting the collection and adding to it. As any
collector will tell you, it’s also about the thrill of the chase.
Luckily for word collectors, these particular “eclectic
collectables” are free of charge and plentiful.
You know you are a word
collector, and maybe a little word crazy when –
-
hearing an interesting word you haven’t heard for a long time feels
like catching up with an old friend
-
a great word is tossed around in a conversation, you think “Ah,
that’s a good one.”, and you hope you can remember it till you can
write it down.”
-
you
flick back through a story you are reading to reread a passage, or
to revisit a particular turn of phrase
-
you hear a new word on television, and you
make it your business to use that word the next day
-
interesting words make their way to you ,
leaping out of snatches of overheard conversations
Being a word collector is
all about having your radar tuned in to words. Go word crazy.
Collect them, use them and enjoy them. You can even save them for a
rainy day. Remember Jim’s advice “If you haven’t found a use for
it, you haven’t kept it long enough.”
Happy word collecting. And
don’t worry - being a little word crazy is a good thing. For a
writer it can be a very good thing.
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here.
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Yvonne Russell is the Editor/Writer of BellaOnline Business Travel ,
All Info About Unusual Travel , and
All Info About Tea & Coffee Lifestyle.
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