Words (nothing to do with Microsoft!)
Aren't words wonderful things? What would the world be like without them? Words turn our thoughts into something we can communicate to others, that is if they use the same words as we do (heavy stuff for the morning, eh?). They are not only used to describe the physical world; they convey abstract thoughts such as emotions and ideas.
Words can take you to another world. If I say "he looked through the window," you will have a mental image of a man looking through a window. To some, he may be in his living room, looking out into the garden.
To others he might be standing outside a shop looking at the window display (Okay, I know most men don't window shop, but you never know). If you live in my world, you will see a hooded figure, dressed all in black and hiding in the bushes - axe in hand. He watches a woman prepare a meal in her kitchen, (that's my writing world, not my real world, before you call the Police!)
Now suppose I say, ' he looked through a tall, narrow, stained-glass window, one of many set into the rough granite walls of the tiny chapel,' - you will have a similar image to mine. Admittedly, it's not going to be exactly the same, they will never be identical.
By adding a few words to my sentence, I conveyed my thoughts to your head. It's what an author does.
I'm sure we've all read books where we want to get to the end to find out what happened, but we don't want finish and come back to reality. Those stories show a job well done by the author. They took you to their world and made you want to be there. A good book is more than the sum of the words it contains.
So it's important we use words well, making sure every one of them counts. Words are mighty powerful, and isn't that a good thing? How else would I be able to tell you my stories?
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