I’m going out on a limb by making an assumption, but what the heck, here goes. I assume most people who like to write, like “words.” Yes? It makes sense. And, the better grasp they have of the words in a language, the better apt they are to choose words from a bigger barrel, so to speak, and have the advantage of putting sentences together with right-on-target descriptions. Right??? I promise this is leading somewhere.
I read two attention-grabbing articles this past week, both equally interesting to the point I couldn’t narrow down which one to write about, so I made a non-decision, which when you think about it, is a decision, and wrote about both articles.
First, did you know Merriam-Webster added a whopping 535+ new words to their glossary’s digital dictionary? The article didn’t specify how many new words came to us due to the COVID-19 virus (the name comes from the abbreviated term COronaVIrus Disease -2019), but I bet it was something like 534. It seems like there’s a new one every day. For a second, the radar system in my right brain, supposedly the creative side, came to full attention. Why? Well, as a writer, I didn’t want to think there was a whole treasure chest of 535+ bright and shiny new words I could use in my descriptive fiction, and I didn’t even know they existed. To a true word nerd, that kind of stimulus could trigger a panic attack.
Listed were such jewels as community-spread, super-spreader, and social-distancing. What the heck? Those aren’t new words. Just last summer at our family reunion, about twenty aunts and grannies laid out a community spread of vittles eight picnic tables long. About an hour later, Cousin Chester, after gorging on barbequed ribs and pork steaks, five-alarm-fire-baked beans, and enough fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables to feed a hog farm, announced he felt a super-spreader coming on, and we all social-distanced pert near a half mile away.
Second, this is some good stuff backed up by Harvard. You are going to be blown away. Writers, do you know how, with pretty much no effort or preparation, you can become a better writer, increase your productivity, work faster with fewer mistakes, and not work one minuscule harder? Are you ready???
The following highly technical, cost extreme maneuver was tested in blocks of offices throughout our country. What was it they did? Do you give? They opened the windows. I’m not jerking your chain. By allowing fresh air into closed-up offices, the employees experienced noted positive improvements in kidney function, a healthy circulation of blood and the proliferation of new blood cells, a more efficient breakdown of liver toxins, and improved digestion, metabolism, and elimination. A study measuring the impact of indoor air quality found both productivity and cognitive function were much higher in “green” buildings with access to fresh air.
I wonder how fresh air will affect the creativity of a writer working on a story. While COVID occasionally sequesters us in our homes, let's go outside on sunny days and soak up some natural Vitamin D. Speaking of fresh air, could somebody open the window in Cousin Chester’s man cave?
Writers Write!