Recently, I found an article on the internet about Peter Mark Roget. I’m embarrassed to say I knew nothing of the man. It seems his entire family was plagued with mental illnesses, from simple depression to possible schizophrenia and paranoia. An uncle slit his own throat while Roget struggled to take the razor away.

To hold onto his own sanity, Roget wrote long lists of synonyms. He found solace in words. I can understand this. When I’m restless, can’t write, or even settle down with a good book, I pick up the dictionary to find interesting, previously unknown words. Words fascinate me.

I’d be lost without my copy of Roget’s Thesaurus. Not only does it offer many choices, but sometimes one of the synonyms sparks my imagination, enabling me to write a better sentence.

Words make the world go round. They allow us to communicate, albeit not so well at times. It’s not just a good story that sells a book, but how it’s written. Think about how your words will flow into a reader’s mind.

Pick a random sentence from one of your manuscripts and spend time improving it. The more often I do this, the faster I get. Now I take all my weak sentences when I complete a chapter and make them stronger. And, of course, Roget is my bedside companion.

For anyone interested in reading the entire article on Roget, it can be found HERE.

I’m also looking forward to reading The Man Who Made Lists by Joshua Kendall. Discovering more about Roget’s unhappy life might be great research for anyone wanting to know more about the darker side of mental illness.

My mother always told me, “Choose your words wisely.” Of course, she wasn’t referring to my writing, but the idiom holds true whatever way you look at it.

Happy word hunting!