Writing Tools

Philistine White Goodman likes to break a mental sweat by reading a dictionary in Dodgeball. While discussing the plummeting level of literacy among students, a university professor friend of mine told me that a girl with an MA in English from Durham did not know what a Thesaurus was. 'When I told her she would benefit from using a Thesaurus, she asked me, "What's a Thesaurus?" So here you have a supposed literary professional who doesn't even own a dictionary'. When I come across such instances I never know how to react. Deep within I am outraged and disgusted but on the outside I play it cool, nodding while looking deep within my cup of tea, eventually uttering the immortal, and yet meaningless, 'Yeah, well, what can you do?'. Yet, I don't like this nihilistic approach. While we are busy tweeting about the latest software that switches off all apps on our computer so that we can type away unencumbered by visual distractions or about the one that disconnects the net for a timespan set by us, I still think that these are little gimmicks for little people, pillars for amateurs to hide behind. For those who write, a dictionary is the writing tool to have besides pen and paper (or keyboard and screen). What could be more important than the ability to find le mot juste which is going to create a world of emotions, sensations and images for your reader? But did you know that there is no... Read more →