Word Matters Articles

Let Me Introduce Myself

The phrases we use to give our name provide a glimpse into personality and psychology.

Collecting Words

One way to expand your working vocabulary is to give new words time to become familiar before you use them.

Descriptive Powers: Similes, Metaphors, and Associations, Oh My!

Similes and metaphors are important tools for descriptive writing, and help writers add style to their prose.

Collecting Words

Collecting Words

One way to expand your working vocabulary is to give new words time to become familiar before you use them.

There’s a Word for That

There’s a Word for That

Studies show it’s easier to perceive something when you have a word for it. That’s why building a robust vocabulary matters.

Punctuation Marks & Traffic Signs

Punctuation Marks & Traffic Signs

I’ve been in the car a lot lately. In fact, almost all of my writing time has been spent driving. I always hope that those hours in the car could be good thinking time for fiction planning, but they just aren’t. Deep thinking and hurtling along a road at seventy miles...

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Noah Webster, Demoralized

Noah Webster, Demoralized

Last weekend, I visited Dearborn, MI — specifically, the Henry Ford [museum] and Greenfield Village. Lots of interesting old cars and so on in the museum, as you'd expect. (My favorites: the Bugatti and the X-Prize winner.) Greenfield Village was good, too. The...

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Philology & Logophilia

One of Dictionary.com’s words of the day last week was “philology.” An interesting word. The second definition given, which is the more familiar one now, is “the study of literary texts and of written records” – usually related to determining meaning, authenticity,...

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The Back Streets of Vocabulary

The Back Streets of Vocabulary

Learning new words is something profound. A new word can bring a new idea into focus. Vocabulary is the foundation of thought. There doesn't seem to be a standard answer to "how many words are there in the English language". The problems with counting are pretty...

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