Surfing for snappy synonyms

One of the features of lively writing is a varied use of verbs and adjectives. Verbs tackle the action of a sentence. Adjectives help describe and limit nouns: "a sweltering day," "four soldiers." Unfortunately, too many writers plod along with the same vocabulary they've always used and have grown comfortable with, rarely daring to stray beyond the narrow boundaries of their verbal back yard.

There's help for this timidity, and it's only a mouse click away, if you use the popular Microsoft Word for your writing tasks. Let's say you've composed this sentence: "It's important to rig heavy equipment properly before moving it." And let's also suppose that you want to add some sparkle to it. Good idea! Just move your cursor to the word "important," click on it, then, keeping the flashing vertical bar on the word, right click. That should bring up an options box that includes one for "synonyms" (words with similar meanings). Click on that option and a useful list of synonyms for "important" appears on your screen. There are several sound choices on this list: vital, essential, imperative. Let's choose "vital." Just point and click. Word swaps "important" with "vital." Congratulations, you've just replaced a good but overused word with a suitable synonym that possesses more snap.

After you get accustomed to using the synonym function, you're likely to return to it frequently. But beware. You can't choose just any word on the synonym list Word provides. Some of the choices may not precisely fit the meaning or connotation that you want in a sentence. Using the sample sentence above as an example, Word's synonym list for "important" included "chief," which doesn't work. If doubtful, consult a dictionary. If still doubtful, or pressed for time, stick with your first choice, as long as it's a correct one. You'll have countless other chances to dress up your copy with dynamic words.

There's another benefit to liberally consulting the synonym finder: It'll sharpen and broaden your vocabulary.