Foxy is a word that you just don’t hear much lately. It had its heyday in the 70s. Recently, though, I read a new book that used the word no less than five times. I wondered if it was making a comeback. A query of my Facebook friends indicated that they didn’t think so, although some folks thought it should.
Do you have words that you use all the time? I think we all do. Lately I noticed I use the word cool a lot.
As writers, one of the things we are taught and that editors seem to catch is the use of words over and over. It can be a little disconcerting and can break up the flow of the manuscript. The reason I noticed the word foxy is because it was used so many times and it was used by characters that were between the ages of 16 and 19. The use broke up the story and pulled me out of the “fictional dream.”
The fictional dream is the goal of each novelist. It’s the sign of a good story that is well written. A writer wants you to slip into their created landscape and relate to the characters. Any little thing that disrupts that dream and causes the reader to lose the trail of the story isn’t a good thing.
Using the same words is something I struggle with in my writing. The tendency is strong. Our language has a robust vocabulary and so it seems I should be able to find new and fresh ways to say what I want to say. It just takes a little time to seek out different ways to get my point across.
After reading the book mentioned above I have a renewed desire to seek out new words.
Use the right word, not its second cousin. ~Mark Twain
Collecting Ebenezers as I travel through life. "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12
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