Hi Everyone,
I am going to start the weekend off by giving you all the single best piece of writing advice you will ever hear. It is a proven method, more than 200 years old, almost 100% effective in curing writer's block, and it works for any genre in the English language. It is readily available to all.
Get a hold of a hard-bound (not the online version) of Roget's Thesaurus--it must be the original Roget's Thesaurus (not an alphabetized version). Created in 1805, it is the greatest reference book ever created in the English language. Roget designed the volume to be not merely a synonym-finder, but a compendium of ALL knowledge.
Roget’s is essentially a reverse dictionary. Instead of looking up a word to find it's meaning, the book helps finds the words that best encapsulate the idea the user wants to express. The user starts with an idea--even the germ of an idea will do--and then keeps flipping through the book until they find the word or concept that best expresses it.
The entries in Roget are linked together by conceptual categories, rather than spelling. The user can choose whether to expand or narrow the level of abstraction, as they flip pages to explore all the different levels of associations that arise from the general idea they want to explore. It is almost like Google Maps for the subconscious mind. https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/coverage/buy?id=29&genre=film&exe...
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Great suggestion. Thank you, Michael!
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You're welcome, but are you sure it was a ""suggestion"? Maybe it was more of a dictate, a theorem, or positive affirmation, or perhaps the ravings of a lunatic...I will have to look it up ;)
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Fascinating. I love this idea. It sounds like living-dream-work. Gonna find a copy. Thanks for the idea!
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I would say 100% effective, The Synonym Finder by J I Rodale, is my writer's bible, thanks Michael !
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Just bought a copy of "Roget's Thesaurus". Can't wait to learn ways to say, "room, enter, leave, stare, etc." with a more descriptive/creative word.
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This is great advice! I also like to apply diffuse thinking by working on a completely different art medium while my subconscious works in the background. The solutions that pop up out of nowhere are amazing!