Words, Words, Wonderful Words - Romance Writers Weekly - #lovechatwrite

This week on Romance Writer’s Weekly, I set the topic for my fellow bloggers.

It may seem obvious, but writers love words. And most of us have our favourites. Give examples of your favourite words (the more unusual the better). Have you ever made up a word because there just isn’t one that describes exactly what you want to say?
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If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome!

I love playing with words. “Different words have different meanings” may seem like a ridiculous statement, but if you’ve ever used a Thesaurus you’ll understand what I mean.  Each of the words listed as a synonym of the word you are searching has a slightly different meaning and can change the entire tone of a sentence or paragraph.

I’m a big fan of multisyllable words that are easy to understand when taken in context. Discombobulate and rambunctious are two of my favourites. For example: I was very discombobulated by the rambunctiousness of my nephews.

Then there’s words that are softer, gentler. Limn is one I like to use. It means “to represent in drawing or painting.” Her profile was limned with light by the sun behind her.

If you have read Anne of Green Gables you might remember the scene where Anne laments about the word alabaster. She always envisioned it as a rich purple, so is disappointed to learn it is actually white. I have felt the same on occasion when I’ve heard a word spoken aloud and realized it is one I have pronounced in my head in a completely different way. In fact, my daughter and I came up with our own word to describe a word you’ve only seen and not heard – voxilliomatic. It draws on Latin (which my daughter studied) and is pronounced voks-ill-ee-oh-mah-tik (so it is not voxilliomatic to you).

Another word I distinctly remember creating while I was writing MOUNTAIN FIRE is loppeting. I wanted to describe a rabbit hopping in a unique way, and for some reason this arrangement of syllables really spoke to me.
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I’d love to hear about your favourite words – drop me a line in the comments below! Then be sure to hop on over to Jenna Da Sie for the next stop in the tour this week!

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