Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Word Collection

Some people collect postcards, or stamps, or coins. Some people collect rare video games, or out of print books, or anything a favorite celebrity has ever touched (you can find all sorts of weird crap on eBay).

Well, I started collecting words.

Reading through some of my earlier writing, I didn't use a lot of variety. Characters walked. Characters shouted. Characters were afraid.

So I started reading more books and flipping through a dictionary and a thesaurus to find words I liked that I hadn't previously used. I saved these. I wrote them down and I held onto them and I waited for just the right moment. And with the collection of words at my disposal, the right moments came faster and more frequently.

Characters no longer walked downstairs, instead they stole downstairs.

Characters no longer shouted, instead they shrieked.

Characters were no longer afraid, instead their hearts hammered against their chest.

The thing is, I love words.

And I think that's why my word collection is the first successful collection I've ever had. When I was younger I tried to collect coins. I tried to collect postcards from every state. I tried to collect pens from all the businesses around town. I tried to collect coasters from different restaurants.

But none of these collections went anywhere. Because I just didn't care that much.

My collection of words is different. I collect because I'm passionate about it.

And now I get why my desire to collect all the special state quarters went nowhere. To some people, those state quarters are magical. To me, those state quarters were pretty cool, but on a hot day a soda from a vending machine sounded a whole lot cooler. And to some people, words are just words. But to me, words are magical.


Have you ever tried to collect something?
Successful or not?

8 comments:

  1. Kat, I used to collect movie tickets. I grew up in a tiny town with a really tiny movie theatre so whenever there was a movie I liked that came to town I would keep the ticket.

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  2. Right now I'm trying to collect a follower in every state and country. I'm one state away from locking up the US...but a long ways away from all of the countries. :)

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  3. I collect frogs and Harry Potter stuff. But...I haven't added to either collection in a couple of years. However, I too have started collecting words. Whenever I find a fun/new/cool word, I write it on a piece of paper that I keep in my purse in the hopes that someday I'll have an excuse to use them. The top of my list includes: Soporific, Hoodwinked, and Hither To. :D

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  4. I collect ornaments from places i visited. It kind of has a magical feel to it every time at Christmas when I re-discover them again. :)

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  5. I used to collect owl figurines but everyone in my house agreed that they were more creepy than cute.

    I think it's great you collect words! keep it up!

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  6. I tried to collect coins, notes, postcards and stamps too when I was younger. It never worked out, and I spent a heap of money on stuff I never even looked at.

    I collect books now, and I absolutely love them :) Books are a treasure. There's so much in their pages, and they have the power to inspire and to make me dream. To make me love and hate.

    I'm not that crazy a book collector yet, in that I spend heaps getting out of edition prints and signed copies. I just collect the books I love.

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  7. 0938 ( GMT -6 hrs ) Monday, July 11, 2011

    Yes, I collect tons of English words too.

    * * *

    Among other things I also like to collect screws, bolts and nuts ( including flat and lock washers ) of all types and sizes —obviously there are microscopic or nano-measurements AND GIGANTIC ONES that I will never have in this lifetime BUT in my imagination I really possess ALL of them !!!!!!!

    ** ** **

    Nature offers you absolutely FREE collectable things like stones and rocks, an unstoppable show of cloud formations, trillions of sounds and noises at every moment —even though we CAN'T hear MOST OF THEM, bright IDEAS from EVERYWHERE (( in order to GENERATE Bigger and MORE Brilliant IDEAS By YOURSELF )), the MILLIONS of everyday images and landscapes WE can catch in photographs, all kinds of leaves, AND SO FORTH.

    *** *** ***

    Greetings from Mexico City.

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  8. 1416 ( GMT -6 hrs ) Tuesday, August 2, 2011

    I'm Jesús Federico —the one dealing with "Nature offers you absolutely FREE collectable things ..."

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