My title is a clever reference that absolutely no one is going to get. It doesn't have to do with hippos, which I'm pretty sure are one of the few things Luna hasn't ever killed.
Pretty sure. She really got around in the old days. And really. Killed a lot of everything. Or at least pummeled the hell out of it. Which I don't think she understands can be just as bad at times.
Okay, okay, back on topic before I get beaten up too. We're finally at the post I've been wanting to do since the start but was 'too boring.' Something very important to writing, that some of us take for granted, because... we don't take the time to sit down and sift through and examine them. Things that hold a different meaning for each and every one of us, even though most of us are taught them the same way during our lifetime... but how we experience them and what we grow to associate them with is another matter entirely.
Words: and words are powerful things. Words can heal, and words can do damage nothing can ever repair. Words are there only for a moment, but last forever. They say a picture holds a thousand words, but words themselves are made up of letters, and letters are symbols, and a single word can bring a thousand images to mind. We underestimate their power, and we whine a lot about how hard it is to read this or write that or blah blah blah. But personally, for me, writing has always been my one outlet. My one form of 'magic' that this lame hornless unicorn has always had. This one way for me to share with a world that had no love or acceptance of my presence... but they couldn't silence my writing. Well, technically they almost did, but that's another story for another day that can go under a particularly-bitter post heading and be filled with lot of angry cursing and swearing and probably a lot of unfair remarks directed towards people who really are just trying to do their jobs but I treat with loathing and contempt anyway because of my own judgmental viewpoints and stuff.
That was a run on sentence. Luna also says she looks forwards to when I write that post. She seems to like it when I offend the hell out of ponies. I think she's just mean.
Anyway. Words. Knowing your words, understanding them on a level deeper than "scream" is a synonym for "shriek" is a synonym for "loud yell" will greatly, greatly aid your ability to write. It's like... if you were an archer, then your page would be the bow, and your different words are all different arrows to shoot the hell out of things with. Now would you just want a few simple arrows, or do you want some really kick-ass armor penetrating arrows with mystical powers that can blow enemies' heads off and turn them to ice and home in on your opponents?
Yeah. That's what I thought.
Now, personally, I find words fascinating. I know that's not normal, but if you stop and think about it for a second it can become a very interesting subject: all our words come from somewhere, after all, and where they resulted from was usually the result of one bloody invasion or another, or cultures mixing together, often in a rather volatile way. Just as the use of words has evolved: I've had many fun conversations with Luna on this subject, her being... from the past and all. Like "doom," which we've come to know as dark and foreboding but originated just as another word for fate or destiny. Luna tells me how it wasn't uncommon to hear things like "I'm am doomed" and it usually meant nothing more scary than "There's something unavoidable I have to do today."
But that brings up a particularly fun subject for me: how words can be prescribed meanings based upon their sounds. Guttural and ominous-sounding words, after all, usually have ominous meanings: growl, rumble, dark, wretched, wraith... guttural and ominous... etcetera. Learning about those certain sounds that help influence that effect, to recognize how they come into play, and even more, can help you learn to tie words and descriptors together to better get an effect: a "sharkish grin" instead of a "mean smile" for example, or "cruel, cold eyes" instead of a "nasty look." Not to say that fancier words will always have the best impact: sometimes, nothing works better than the simplest descriptors, like "it was sad." If you use something like that at the right moment, something brief and simple and small, it can create a massive impact.
Another thing about words is to always remember how certain words have certain associations with them. For example, let's use doom again. It's technically correct for me to say "I feel it's doomed that something good will happen today," but a good few people are going to scoff at you. If I say "I feel it's fated that something good will happen today" I sound a little pretentious, but people aren't going to make fun of your use of the word fated. They'll just make fun of you - me, I suppose, since I used myself as the sayer example... not that. I'd ever. Say that - for other reasons.
There are a lot of trap words like that. Words that can technically be used in a wide variety of ways, but we as a people tend to only use in one specific context. It's another reason why it's important to get comfortable with knowing your words... or at least having something on-hoof to look up a particular word you're trying to fit in now and then. A thesaurus is helpful, but a thesaurus can also mislead: for example, it may list possible synonyms for "say" to include "assert," "judge," "rehearse," "opine," "yell," etcetera. While the literal definition of "say" is more along the lines of "to speak/to express in words." And we as a society tend to recognize "say" or "said" as "casual speech or natural speaking."
I mean, you wouldn't have "As the horrible monster bore down on him, grinning insanely, he said: 'No, get away from me!'" Replace "said" with "screamed" for much more terrified results. And yes, that sentence was about Luna.
We're awkward.
Okay, Luna says this post is long and boring enough for now, and that I can write more about hippos next week. She also wants me to write... no. No, no, no. We won't be discussing how to write that. She's being creepy and I'm kind of afraid of-
And then the terrible creature lunged and captured the poet in its fearsome claws, dragging the terrified pony off to its lair to use him for its nefarious delights.
~Scrivener Blooms
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