A Simple Writing Tip

As I was reviewing (yet again) some of my work, I saw with fresh eyes that there were certain phrases or words that I liked to use. I know everyone does this, and it is always something to work on as a writer. I came up with a little trick to help me with words I overuse.

For example, I found I was using flooded a lot. So I looked up Merrian Webster's free thesaurus online (easily found at www.m-w.com). They list the meaning and synonyms and related words. I just cut and past the last two sections, like so:

Synonyms: deluge, drown, engulf, inundate, overflow, overwhelm, submerge, submerse, swamp
Related Words: overcome, overrun; flow, flush, gush, pour, sluice, spout, spurt, stream; douse, drench, soak, wet

I put it next to an spot where I had used flooded. Then all I have to do is use the "find" function with Alt-F to look for flooded or synonym or whatever I want. I've found it handy to pull up if I want to use flooded to quickly find another word to use.

Just something I thought might be helpful to someone else. Have fun writing, and have a great Independence Day!