Writing

12 Ways to Cure Writer’s Block

Writer’s block hits us all at some point. There are days when we sit in front of our computers and words just start pouring on to the page, but then there are other times when everything is a struggle. We can’t get more than a sentence or two into it without feeling frustrated. Writer’s block can last for hours, days, weeks, months, and some famous authors have stated it has lasted for them for years!

Living a writer’s life can be a bit lonely. We are holed up in our rooms with just the voices of our characters in our heads. A writer can be a bit of a lone wolf. But they need to venture out now and then. Being alone for so much time is not good for anyone. There are quite a few ways to experiment with when overcoming writer’s block. Look at the list below and see which one will work the best for you.

1. Take a Nap

The world just seems to be a better place after a nap. As a writer, sometimes you write so much that it feels like your brain is about ready to pour out of your ears. You need a little bit of a break. There is nothing like a two hour nap that will make you feel more refreshed. A reinvigorated writer is a better writer!

2. Send the Writing to a Friend

Writer’s block can often be cured by someone with a new perspective. Ask a friend what they would add to the story or article. Post on social media that you need an idea about some sort of subject, and watch all the comments come flying in. Most of the replies may be garbage, but there might be one that sticks out that you can actually do something with.

3. Go on a Trip

Writers are notorious for being in their rooms for long periods of time. Even if you are an introvert, getting out of the house to go on a short trip can energize you. You don’t have to travel to another state or even another city. You could go visit a friend that you haven’t seen for awhile. Grab a lunch with someone and have a couple drinks. Go see a movie in the theaters and sneak in as much food as possible. Check out the new museum in town that is getting rave reviews.

4. Go to the Library

Just because you are having a difficult time writing does not mean that you wouldn’t enjoy a good book. The library is the perfect place to lose yourself for a couple hours. It can take your mind off of your struggles, and perhaps provide inspiration for your own writing. Some day your books will be on their shelves, too!

5. Create an Outline for Your Writing

Whether you are writing a novel or just doing an article, creating an outline can help guide you along the way. Your outline can be broken into sequential topics or chapters. Once you finish one, start on the next. Remember though, the outline is just an outline for your final draft. If you need to add more sections to it once you are doing the actual writing, then add more! Nothing is set in stone.

6. Find a Muse

We always hear how various authors will have a muse that inspires them in their lives at certain points. Maybe you need a muse to break the writer’s block? If you are single, ask someone out on a date. Maybe they can get your creative juices flowing. If you are not single, do not ask anyone out on a date. That could be a very bad thing and the least of your worries would be about your writer’s block. But still, a muse could be the person working down at the local pizzeria, a family member, a kid, or even your pet.

7. Write in a Different Place

If you have writer’s block and can’t think of a thing to write, grab your laptop and head out the door. Maybe a park or a cafe can provide you with a new enough setting that your creativity will be on overload. Just be ready for curious people to ask you what you are writing.

8. Go for a Run

Maybe you are thinking to yourself that you do not like exercising, and you definitely hate running. It is time to live outside of the box. Here is the science about exercise helping you to think more clearly. A strenuous workout will have your body producing lactic acid. In turn, that lactic acid will turn into lactate. Lactate is used in the body for energy. During your workout and immediately following it, the blood running to your brain will have increased lactate in it. This is what enables you to think more clearly after a tough workout. Does this mean it will cure your writer’s block? It couldn’t hurt!

9. Go Crazy

Now I don’t mean that you should jump into your car and start smashing into mailboxes. I mean that you should go out and act a bit silly. Go jump in a lake, as long as it is not full of pollution. Stop by a mover’s truck and ask if they need any free help for the next hour. Hang out in a supermarket and eat all of their free samples. Cut your grass wearing nothing but short shorts. Do something that you would not ordinarily do. Acting a bit crazy can be a good thing. Crazy people always seem to have a lot of ideas and are quite interesting!

10. Visit an Elementary Classroom

Teachers love to have guest presenters to pawn their students off on for an hour. I am teacher, so I know these things. If the presenter has something valuable to teach the students, then even better. Since you are a writer, teach the students about writing! Ask the students what they like to write about. Tell them about the problem you are having. Maybe they will be able to give you some advice. Teaching young kids about writing can definitely fill you with ideas. Your number one idea will probably be about how lucky you are that you are not an everyday school teacher.

11. Have a Few Drinks

Some of the very best writers in history were alcoholics. Does the alcohol help with the writing? Who is to say. Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. William Faulkner was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, and was an alcoholic. Ernest Hemingway was one of the best writers of all time, and was also an extremely heavy drinker. Now I’m not saying to drive down to your local bar and drink until you can’t stand anymore. But heading on out with a few friends for a couple responsible beverages cannot hurt anything. Could it cure your writer’s block? Possibly.

12. Release the Endorphins

Endorphins are chemicals in the brain that lead to feelings of happiness and even euphoria. Releasing endorphins is a definite stress reliever and can be quite the cure for writer’s block. Eating chocolate can set those endorphins free. Exercise is definitely a way to increase endorphin production. Ginseng is a herb that has been proven to increase endorphins as well. However, the number one most fun way to release more endorphins is to have sex. Whether it be sex with your husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, or just a “visit” to your local Asian massage parlor. Your endorphins will be flowing like crazy.

5 Struggling Writers Who Eventually Made It

Very few writers actually make a living at their craft. If you are a writer yourself, you know this already. People will tell you to give it up and get a real job. This is why most writers write only on the side or totally give up the craft after awhile. It can be quite frustrating. The toughest thing to do is to remain positive while facing adversity.

Many successful writers did exactly that. They kept writing even though it seemed like it was hopeless. Friends and family would often tell them to give it up, and focus on other aspects of their lives. But when you are the person chasing your dream, giving up is often not an option. If you are a true writer, then you realize that writing is something that is in your soul. To give it up would be impossible. Let’s look at some very successful writers who did not start out that way.

1. Dr. Seuss

We all know who Dr. Seuss is! But he didn’t start out with that name. Dr. Seuss was entirely his pen name. The much beloved children’s author’s name was actually Theodor Seuss Geisel. It turns out he wasn’t a doctor at all! However, he is one of the most successful writers of all time. His books have sold over 600 million copies.

His original goal was to become an English teacher. But his future wife convinced him to give up wanting to become an English teacher, and convinced him to pursue drawing instead. They later married, but Dr. Seuss never did have any children of his own. He originally drew political cartoons for papers and magazines. Eventually he turned his attention to children’s books where he did both the writing and illustrations.

His first children’s book was And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. It did not start off a smashing success though. He sent it around to numerous publishers and they all turned it down. In fact, it was the 28th publisher he sent it to that decided to take a chance on it. Vanguard Press ended up selling 6 million copies of the book. It’s a good thing Dr. Seuss did not give up after the 27th publisher rejected it. It just goes to show you that good fortune could be just around the corner. But first you have to turn that corner before you can find it.

2. J.K. Rowling

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years, you have probably heard of the author J.K. Rowling. She is the very well-known author of the Harry Potter series that debuted in 1997. It took her approximately six years to write that first book. Her real name is Joanne Rowling, switching over to J.K. in honor of her mother and as a way to make her books a bit more popular. It is thought that boys do not often read books of female authors, so the unknown J.K. Rowling was born. Going with just initials instead of a first name was a way at the beginning of having all children interested in her books. Now just having her name being on a book is a way to interest millions of people.

Rowling did not have a book deal handed to her on a silver platter. Her life was often very difficult. She always thought she wanted to be a writer though. She enjoyed being alone in her room and creating stories out of nothing. Her mother died when she was 25 years old. Rowling was just six months in to writing Harry Potter at the time, and she had not told her mom about the story she was working on.

She soon married and had a daughter. However, the marriage would end just a bit after a year. Rowling was left penniless, jobless, and living in a rundown apartment with her young daughter. She survived off welfare and continued to write the book that would change her life. Once the book was finished, publisher after publisher turned it down. Finally, Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London, took a chance on the book and the unknown author. Her series of seven Harry Potter books would proceed to sell more than 450 million copies. Forbes estimated her net worth to be over $1 billion in 2011. From a struggling single mother with an idea for a book in her head that took six years for her to write to an amazingly successful author, Rowling has enjoyed quite the ride!

3. Sylvester Stallone

You may be scratching your head right now and wondering what Sylvester Stallone has to do with struggling writers that finally make it after enduring many failures. Stallone’s actual life story is even more impressive than Rocky’s. His rags to riches tale is almost hard to believe, but I assure you that it is all true.

Stallone was a struggling actor in New York for many years. And when I say struggling, I am being kind. He landed very few parts and was financially broke. He once had to steal his wife’s jewelry just to pawn it off so they survive a bit longer. He didn’t even have the money to buy food for his pet dog, so he had to approach strangers asking if they would be interesting in buying him. Stallone sold his dog for $25, and then walked away crying. He was homeless and slept at the bus station for days while he had nothing left to eat. Things could not get much worse.

A couple weeks later, he saw a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Wepner was a serious underdog heading into the fight. People did not think he had a chance at the ever-impressive Ali. Wepner surprised everyone by trading blows and almost going the entire 15 rounds with Ali. Ali knocked Wepner out with only 20 seconds left in the fight. This inspired Stallone so much that he wrote the screenplay Rocky in one 20 hour marathon session.

He started pitching it to some studios and production companies. At the age of 30 years old, according to Stallone, he received an offer of $125,000 for the script. At the time, he had only about one hundred dollars in the bank and a pregnant wife. The studio was looking at having Burt Reynolds or Ryan O’Neal star in the film. Stallone, basically an unknown actor, turned down the offer because he wanted to be able to star in Rocky as well.

The offer reportedly got up to $350,000 for the screenplay Rocky if Stallone agreed he would not act in it. He once again turned down the offer and bet on himself. The studio finally agreed to pay him $35,000 for Rocky and agreed to let him star in it. They had a small $1 million budget and shot the whole movie in about four weeks. The rest is history! It won several awards and Stallone went on to write all the Rocky films among others. He also found the person who had bought his dog and ended up buying it back, according to Stallone, for three thousand dollars.

4. Stephen King

Stephen King is known as one of the most prolific writers of our time. By the end of 2016, he had written a grand total of 57 novels, including the ones that he wrote under his pen name of Richard Bachman. His work ethic with his writing has been nothing short of amazing. However, people may not realize how much he struggled before he became an “overnight” success. King has been known as such a huge talent for so long, people forget that he did not start out that way.

Born in Portland, Maine in 1947, King’s parents divorced when he was still very young. King and his brother David spent much of their youth being shuttled back and forth between their parents in Indiana and Connecticut. He later moved back to Maine with his brother and mother. If you are a fan of King’s work, you may have noticed that his stories are sometimes centered in Maine.

King later graduated from college with an English degree in 1970. He searched for a teaching position, but could not land one. He ended up working in a laundry and wrote short stories during his spare time. In 1971, he was hired at Hampden Academy to teach English. He also married his wife Tabitha that year, also a fellow writer. They struggled mightily the first few years of their marriage with finances. Their phone was often disconnected because they just did not have enough money to pay the bills.

By 1973, things had not gotten much better. King and his wife had two young kids by then. Tabitha was working at Dunkin’ Donuts while King kept teaching English in Maine. Finances continued to be so bad that he moonlighted as a janitor and gas pump attendant. They lived in a drafty doublewide trailer and drove around an old Buick held together by wire and tape. The typewriter he used was actually his wife’s, since he was too poor to have one of his own. His desk located in their trailer was in the laundry room wedged between the washing machine and the dryer. He continued to write faithfully even though he had not received much money from selling short stories to magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse. He found it difficult to share the good news of his short stories being published when they were stuck in these men’s magazines.

One day the Hampden Academy offered him an extra $300 a year if he would take the extra position of being the faculty advisor to the debate club. It was an offer he could not refuse, he thought, because it would allow his family to buy groceries. His wife, though, refused it for him when she realized it would not give him much time to write anymore. She was willing to risk it because she knew her husband had real talent.

A year later, after more than 30 publishers declined it, King received a phone call at school from his wife saying that his novel Carrie just sold to Doubleday Publishing. He received an advance of $2,500 for Carrie. It was not enough to quit teaching and focus on his writing, but it allowed them to get a better car and move out of the trailer and into a small apartment. They were even able to get their phone connected again. However, the hardback book Carrie only sold 13,000 copies. He was not exactly setting the literary world on fire. He started on a new book and put Carrie in the back of his mind. Then he received a very unexpected phone call. The paperback rights to Carrie was sold to Signet Books for $400,000. Half of that went directly to King. The paperback version of Carrie sold over a million copies. King gave up teaching and his wife quit Dunkin’ Donuts. The rest is history!

5. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Many writers start worrying that by the time they reach the age of 30, and if they still haven’t made it, that success will never come. They wrongly start to feel a bit ancient and grow more and more frustrated. Quite a number of writers will give up on their dream completely. Keep your chin up, for you are the originator of your own story.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is best known for the Little House on the Prairie series of books that she wrote based on her childhood growing up in a pioneer family. Born in 1867, she lived to be 90 years old. However, she did not have her first book published by Harper & Brothers until 1932 when she was well into her sixties. Prosperity and wealth were not even a glimmer in her eyes until then.

If you have read her books or have seen the television show based on her family and her life as a child, you know that surviving as a pioneer family trying to homestead is extremely tough. She would go on to become a teacher in a one room school house a few months before she turned 16 years old. She felt she had to help out with her family’s finances as much as possible. She taught for three years, but never enjoyed it. Wilder did not end up completing high school.

Wilder married when she was 18 years old, and her husband Almanzo was 28. They had a homestead claim that was doing pretty well. They had a daughter named Rose a year later. They had a son three years after that, but he died shortly after birth. Her husband was left partially paralyzed after an illness during their first few years of marriage. Eventually he regained use of his legs, but for the rest of his life he had to walk with a cane.

Wilder became a columnist and editor for a small newspaper from 1911 until the mid-1920s. Her daughter Rose was also gaining some success as a writer herself. However, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 decimated all their savings and left the Wilders broke. But through her daughter’s connections in the publishing world, Wilder was able to get published some of her memoirs titled Little House in the Big Woods in 1932. Wilder was 65 years old and had just sold her first book. The book eventually led off a series of eight books in total about her family’s experiences on the American frontier.

Struggling Is Not a Bad Thing

Have you ever heard that the ride is the true adventure? Rarely does an “overnight sensation” happen. And even the people that get labeled as such mostly have tried to achieve their dreams for years before. Struggling writers are not uncommon. What is uncommon is the amount of persistence that writers can display. Everyone has doubts. Everyone has doors that will close on them. But don’t let that door close on your dreams. Set a goal and go for it! You will be disappointed in yourself later in life if you don’t. There is not an age limit on success. Continue to write and good things can happen!

Most Commonly Used Words in the English Language

Reading and spelling can be difficult for children and adults learning the English language. How can the letters “ph” or “gh” when placed together make the same sound as the letter f? Are you telling me that when “eigh” is grouped together, it makes a long “a” sound? What kind of witchcraft is this? Kids and adults are left scratching their heads when being taught how to read, write, and spell using the English language.

For those of us that are a bit older and have gone through school already, we just know these things. We don’t give it a second thought. But someone just learning English and trying to figure out how to read and spell it, it can be very tough. Hieroglyphics might actually be easier! Deciphering the symbols inside the pyramids could be a simpler task!

Dolch List/Fry Words

Edward William Dolch (1889-1961) was a man that tried to make the English language a bit easier to read and understand. He wanted to improve upon how reading was taught, so he created a list of frequently used sight words. Sight words are words that people should know just by sight alone, without having to sound them out.

Years later, Dr. Edward B. Fry thought that the Dolch list needed to be updated a bit. So Dr. Fry pushed Edward Dolch aside and created his Fry words. Fry words are basically a more modern version of the Dolch list. The first 100 words on the list are used so commonly that they make up 50 percent of all text. That means that 50 percent of everything that you read uses just these 100 words. It does not matter how difficult the text, half of it will consist of just these first 100 Fry words. You can see how this list would come in handy for children and adults learning how to spell and read.

Dr. Fry new he was on to a good thing, so he stepped it up a bit more. Next, he created a Fry list that consisted of a thousand words. These thousand words are so regularly used that they actually make up 90 percent of all written material. Books, websites, magazines, or newspapers! If someone knows how to read and spell these thousand words, then they have accomplished a real literacy achievement.

What Are the Top 100 Words

When you think of commonly used words, most of them are only two to five letters long. Many need to be learned as sight words because there is no way to try sounding them out correctly. One word that is on the list is the. In fact, that is probably the word used most often in the English language. And it is one that gives those learning to read and spell quite a fit in the beginning. It is a total sight word that just needs to be learned through repetition.

Some of the other very frequently used words are: I, of, and, is, you, to, as, are, and in. Finding out the rest of Fry’s sight words is not too difficult. With the following list you can quickly take steps in making anyone learning English a better reader and writer.

1-25	26-50	51-75	76-100
the	or	will	number
of	one	up	no
and	had	other	way
a	by	about	could
to	words	out	people
in	but	many	my
is	not	then	than
you	what	them	first
that	all	these	water
it	were	so	been
he	we	some	called
was	when	her	who
for	your	would	oil
on	can	make	sit
are	said	like	now
as	there	him	find
with	use	into	long
his	an	time	down
they	each	has	day
I	which	look	did
at	she	two	get
be	do	more	come
this	how	write	made
have	their	go	may
from	if	see	part

How Do You Teach These Words?

This is where people struggle a bit. Some parents get so frustrated with trying to teach their child how to read, they just give up and leave it up to the child’s teacher to do. The key is for nobody to get overwhelmed with frustration while learning these frequently used words, least of all the one who is doing the learning. When someone faces such exasperation in learning how to do something, many times they will quit and give up. We don’t want that to happen at all.

How do you teach these words to a struggling reader or writer? You are in luck! I am actually a certified Reading Specialist. This is my specialty. There are research-based strategies and activities that will make learning these words easier for everyone. Sticking with research-based strategies is an intelligent thing to do because these have all been proven to work by professionals.

It is important for someone learning the most commonly used words that a couple different strategies is used for both their reading and spelling. Of course we would use flash cards with sight words and incorporate them into activities, but we also need something more than that. Using a systematic and sequential phonics and decoding program would provide those learning English the skills needed to break apart letters and sounds.

Flash Cards

You do not want to take the first one hundred all at once and run through them as fast as you can with a person learning them for the first time. This will overwhelm them and make them feel inadequate. It will actually slow down the learning experience. Try working with only ten words at a time. Once they master those ten, move on to the next ten, but keep on incorporating the first ten words in as well. You can keep on doing this until you are all the way finished with Fry’s first one hundred words, and then begin on the second hundred.

Make learning these words a fun activity or game for the kid or struggling adult. You can use sight words in almost any game you can think of. You could provide a spinner and whatever number the person lands on, they then must correctly read that number of words. Using a timer is a fun way to learn as well for a kid. Check and see how fast they can go through all ten words correctly without missing any. If you are working with more than one struggling reader, then have them compete against one another. Flip over the word and whoever says it first will get the card. Competition is a good thing. It makes people strive to become better at something than they currently are.

Phonics and Decoding

Saying that someone needs a research-based systematic and sequential phonics and decoding program is quite a mouthful. Just hearing that might make someone run the other way. It sounds a bit scientific and difficult. However, those are million dollar words for quite an easy concept. Don’t let the technical jargon scare you away.

A systematic and sequential phonics and decoding program just means that the lessons all proceed in a particular order. Each lesson will be building off the last lesson. There are usually enough lessons to last an entire year for each grade level. The first lesson might only have five letters to work with. Place these actual letters on the table for the person learning to manipulate. Create words just using these five letters. These are commonly used words. They must also write everything down on an organized paper with boxes for each word.

At the end of the lesson, they are to take all the words that they just learned and try writing sentences with them. This is helping them with not only sight words, but also with sounding out more difficult words. They will be decoding words like a pro in no time!

The most commonly used words in the English language may be quite simple for most to spell and read, but to children just learning and foreigners arriving from other countries, it can be a nightmare. It is always best to start with the ones that are used most frequently. They are shorter and will be easier to learn. After awhile, whoever is struggling will soon become a master!

Word Count List – How Many Words Your Text Should Have

Think word count isn’t important in writing? Well, think again. As a writer, the number of words in a piece matters a great deal; it is the only measure of productivity you have. Therefore, you need to ensure the number is within what’s expected for your genre and category. So how many words should your text have? Let’s take a comprehensive look at our word count list, and find out how it all works.

A good average sentence length

There’s no perfect length, however, a well-written sentence should have 15-20 words on average. Using simple and short sentences will help more people to understand your content. But restrain from using uniform sentence lengths if you don’t want your writings to be choppy and without flow.
Though there’s the possibility of long structured sentences being balanced and readable, comprehension often drops and readers may struggle to understand the whole content. People expect you to get to the point, especially your busiest readers. They don’t have the time to slow down to deconstruct the long, complicated sentences and contemplate the clauses. By making it simple, it shows you respect your content reader’s time and interest.

How many words in a paragraph?

As you can expect, there is no fixed number of words that a paragraph should have. A rule of thumb: the paragraphs are usually about 100 to 200 words long, which is about 6-8 sentences. Nevertheless, it all depends on the ideas, and ideas come in many sizes. So the paragraph can be long enough to reach its end. But we can’t ignore the fact that readers don’t like seeing blocks of paragraphs. And it’s for that reason you should stick to one concept or idea per paragraph to avoid creating very long paragraphs. Simply shift to a new paragraph when you shift to a new concept/idea.

How many words in an essay?

A standard essay must be a minimum of 3-5 paragraphs, but if you’re not instructed to write the given paragraphs, there’s no point sticking to this extremely limiting rule. This is handy in academic writing, where your paragraphs are expected to be longer than most essays. On average, there are 100 to 200 words in a paragraph. And as a general rule with essays, you’ll have an introduction, body, and conclusion. So you can assume that a 1500-word essay will likely to have about 5-8 paragraphs. Remember your essay will be evaluated on the content you present, not the number of paragraphs.

How long should a book be?

Though the length of your book is determined by the details needed to make it good, it is important to adhere to the expected word count in your genre and category. It demonstrates how well you understand your market. And in line with this, here are the industry norms worth knowing.

Under 500 words is generally considered flash fiction
A short story: 1,000-8,000 words
Novella Story: 10,000-40,000 words

Novel

A 40,000-word manuscript can be considered to be a novel, but to be eligible for finisher status, you’re required to write a minimum of 50,000 words. The maximum word is generally 60,000-100,000 words.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

There is no rule on the word limit regarding science and fantasy fiction books. However, most of the books usually fall within the 90,000-120,000 words. The publisher and agents are more lenient on word limits for this genre; therefore, you’re not likely to lose out on a deal if you exceeded the number of words. You may be wondering why the books in this category are an exception. Well, reading epic novels of this genre are interesting and require the audience to take some time to create the fantasy world around them, and then imagine themselves in it.

Adult Novels

The generally recommended words usually fall between 80,000 and 100,000. If your manuscript is over 100,000 words, publishing it could prove to be more expensive.

Children Novels

The word length for children novels is not set in stone, but even so, its likely to be around 20,000 to 40,000 words.

What is the average word count for an email?

According to a study conducted by Email Labs, people spend about 15-20 seconds reading an email. Sending the readers lengthy email messages may make them feel overwhelmed, and might not read through it. Now, you may be tempted to ask, “what’s the right number of words for an email? “ Well, it all depends on the ideas or information you want to deliver. A rule of thumb: the shorter message, the better. Always try to limit your email to around 300 words or less. If your email message needs to be longer, it’s absolutely okay. However, focus on the main message, eliminate the distractions, and keep the content easy to scan.

How many words should your report have?

There’s no set minimum or maximum, regardless of the type of report. If you’d like a guesstimate, just assume the audience will take around 10-20 minutes reading the report. And on average, your readers can read 1 double-spaced page or 250 words in a minute. In 10 minutes they would have read about 2,500-4,500 words. But that’s just an approximation.
Remember a few people read an entire report, so keep it simple and not too long.

How many words should your application have?

Whether you are applying for a job or college, it’s extremely important to keep in mind that there’ll be a long list of applicants. When you present a very long resume, you’re simply scaring off the person who’ll be reading it. Don’t forget he/she has other applications to review. Even if you were to be more qualified, there’s a great possibility of wasting your chances. So if you are not instructed to write within a certain word limit, just make sure your application is short as possible, typically less than 500 words.

How long should your motivational letters be?

While there are no exceptions, your letter of motivation shouldn’t be longer than one page. Make it around 300-500 words. It is crucial to keep it shorter, but make sure you highlight your most relevant qualifications and what you have to offer.

If you want to check your word and character count, improve writing style and word choice online, bookmark our online editor.

How Many Words in a Novel Chapter?

You’re writing your first novel, and you know you must shoot for around 80 to 95 thousand words. Once you know what your book will be about, it’s time to start planning the structure of the story. What will happen in each chapter, and how much has to happen before you move on to the next chapter? How many chapters will you need before you reach your target word count?

It’s Up to You – Within Reason

Before you decide your average chapter length, it’s a good idea to think about the purpose behind dividing a book into chapters. Think of it as a TV series or a play. Each chapter will consist of one or more scenes that contribute to the development of the story.

Unlike TV series, you aren’t limited to a certain amount of airtime, so some important scenes may require longer chapters. The important thing is to end each chapter at the end of a scene, allowing your reader to save the next “episode” for another time.

However, it doesn’t make much sense to have one chapter that takes up a major part of the book while other chapters are much shorter. Admittedly, some published authors have done just that, but your readers may find it a little odd.

Your audience may also play a role. For example, books for the youth market often have shorter chapters than those intended for adult readers. Again, it isn’t a rule, but if you’re writing for people with a short attention span, shorter chapters make sense.

How Long Are the Chapters in Books by Famous Authors?

Looking at what successful authors have done in the past is always a help. That’s why writers should always be readers too. Best-selling books show us what the public likes, and of course, we’re hoping that our own novels will be liked by the public. Let’s look at some chapter lengths, but remember that these are averages. In any of these books, some chapters are longer than others.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has an average of 4,560 words per chapter.
Twilight uses about 4,580 words per chapter.
The Hunger Games uses 3,700-word chapters, dividing each chapter into three parts.

What Do Most Writers See as a Good Average Chapter Length?

The debate is ongoing. Some will tell you 2,500 words is the average, while others will say that 3,000 to 5,000 word chapters are more likely to be the norm. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. As a general guideline, chapters should be between 3,000 to 5,000 words.

All of them agree that the chapter length should be defined by the story and that any chapter length targets you decide on are merely guidelines. Most of them say that trying to keep the chapters within a certain length range is helpful to the reader.

Chapter Length Rule 1: There Are No Rules

Writers sometimes use extra-short chapters such as ones that are a sentence or two long for emphasis. The element of surprise at finding a chapter that consists of a sentence, or even just a word, will make readers sit up and take note. However, use this technique sparingly. It loses its effect if you regularly do it.

There’s also no real rule that says a chapter can’t be longer than 5,000 words. Daniel Defoe wrote the book Moll Flanders without dividing it into chapters at all, so in theory, you could say that the entire book consisted of just one chapter. However, as a new author, I’m not sure you would get away with that.

It’s the Story That Matters Most

Trying to pad out an uneventful chapter with thoughts or events that don’t contribute to your plot will bore your readers leaving them with the impression you’re waffling. Compressing a very exciting scene so you can meet your chapter word count target is also not going to do you any favors.

While the idea of chapters in the 3,000 to 5,000-word range is a good guideline when roughing out your book’s structure, it isn’t a rule, and the story itself should be the primary deciding factor. Build your plot through a series of events or scenes. Then decide for yourself where the chapter divisions will be. You may decide to include two or more scenes in a chapter, or you might stick to one scene per chapter. Just ensure that the division comes at a time when a reader could put the book down if they want a break. Of course, if you keep it exciting enough, your reader will want to know what will happen next, and might have trouble putting the book down at all.

Words Everyone Seems to Hate

No, we’re not talking about “homework,” “responsibility” or anything else that implies you’ll have to make an enormous effort when you’d rather be doing something else. Instead, we’re talking about words that give you a feeling of real disgust. They’re perfectly ordinary, otherwise-innocuous-seeming words, but researchers have found when study participants are asked to rate words based on their gut-reaction, these words are consistently rated as being the most hated ones.

A Lot of People Hate the Word “Moist”

Paul Thibodeau, a psychology professor, authored a study based on the way 2,500 people reacted to words, and “moist” was generally considered to be downright nasty. It’s possible the reaction would have been different if he included it in a phrase like “moist chocolate cake,” but when viewed on its own, it was seen as being absolutely disgusting by 25 percent of the group.

Words using similar sounds didn’t get the thumbs down. People felt relatively neutral about “hoist,” for example. So, what’s the problem with “moist?”

Professor Thibodeau thinks it may be the association between “moist” and bodily functions. “Vomit” and “phlegm” were also rated as being among the most-hated, so he joined the dots and decided that words related to bodily fluids were the pits.

A Linguistics Professor and a Neurologist Blame Sounds

Professor Jason Riggle and Dr. David Eagleman, a neuroscientist, think that word aversion comes from the sounds themselves. Just as we feel odd after hearing a jarring sound in music, certain word-sounds are unpleasant to us. Dr. Eagleman has done his own experiments using made-up words and found that people didn’t like unusual sound combinations. So, if we think a word sounds funny, we’re more likely to associate it with something unpleasant.

Associations or Sounds: Who Is Right?

I’m going to sit on the fence with this one. Associations really can make a word disgusting. Take “vomit” for example. The very thought of vomiting is stomach-churning. The word itself is probably innocent enough, but the association is utterly gross!

At the same time, I can believe that sounds that don’t fit our ideas of harmony would also be jarring. Unlike Dr. Eagleman, I’ve never invented a truly disgusting word, and I wouldn’t know where to begin, but it makes sense in a way.

I’d say both reasons for being disgusted by words are valid. What do you think?

Is This Useful Knowledge?

Oddly enough, I think this knowledge could be useful, particularly in the marketing world. When we send out marketing messages, we need to be very careful in our word choices. We might even want to disgust our audience before offering them a calming, soothing message that explains how to solve a problem. Alternatively, we might want to avoid any negative associations whatsoever.

Still, just because of chocolate cake, I’m not altogether convinced about the gut-churning effects of the word “moist.” Couple it with cake, and suddenly, it sounds very, very yummy. Is it just me who thinks so? Of course, being covered with moist sweat sounds a whole lot less delicious, so I think we need to add context before we can talk about word aversion.

Made-up words are two-a-penny. Just look at company names and brand names, and you’re sure to find at least a few invented words. If we could know what sounds or combinations of sounds give people that “Eeeyew!” feeling of disgust, and which ones make them feel great, it could surely help companies with their branding strategies.

Is It OK to Hate Words?

I’ve read commentary about how silly it is to hate words, but whether it’s silly or not, it seems to be a real enough phenomenon. But to play devil’s advocate, we need negative words as much as we need positive ones. After all, if you want to describe something gross, having some unpleasant-sounding words or ones with less-than-charming associations, is mighty handy!

I use “vomit” quite often, “I went into the exam room, vomited out a whole lot of information, and scored an A!” The word “regurgitated” is interchangeable here, or you could use it to indicate your disgust, “He just regurgitated the same old information we always hear on that subject!”

Of course, some people react more strongly to word aversion than others do, and I put it down to sensitivity or possibly a very active imagination. Neither of these things is bad to have, although they might make your life a little more interesting than it needs to be.

What Words Do You Hate and Why?

First, a few ground-rules. We’ll just assume that anything obscene or scatological is gross, so those words are out of bounds. Some words are annoying, but that’s because of the way people use them and abuse them, so we’ll overlook them too. What we want, is a list of words that make you feel slightly queasy just looking at them.

Here’s my two cents’ worth:

Blog. I don’t know why I hate it so much. I think it’s the sound of the word. And looking around the web, I see that others agree with me.
Mucus. This seems to confirm the theory that bodily fluids disgust us. But somehow, even “snot” is better than “mucus,” so maybe it’s a combination of sound and association.
Pustule. Yuk! I can’t think of a good thing to say about this word. Nothing about it is nice!
Maggot. The word itself may not be to blame, but the associations are there!

To be honest, I don’t think there are any words that I hate in the truest sense of the word, but these would certainly top my list of the words I don’t like all that much.

Top Words People Hate

For those looking for a top list of words people hate, here are some words to consider:

Blog
Bulbous
Chunky
Clogged
Curd
Dripping
Fester
Fetus
Gurgle
Jowls
Lugubrious
Maggots
Moist
Mucus
Munch
Orifice
Panties
Phlegm
Pustule
Queasy
Roaches
Secrete
Slacks
Slurp
Smear
Squirt
Viscous
Vomit
Yolk

Are there words that you simply hate? Let us know in the comments.

The Best Words to Describe “Love”

Love has been described as “A Many Splendored Thing” in poems (William Waterway), in films (1955), and in Academy Award winning songs (lyrics Paul Francis Webster). The same descriptive phrase has been used for a TV soap opera.

“A Many Splendored Thing” originated in a poem by late 19th century poet, Francis Thompson. He was English, so he probably included a “u” in “splendoured” when he coined the phrase in The Hound of Heaven as he spent 182 lines investigating Christianity and God’s search for a missing soul. This would, of course, be 182 lines of words describing the concept of divine love. However, the phrase that has outlived him isn’t really a conclusive description. It’s rather a cop-out.

In the 1970 movie “Love Story” Erich Segal used the phrase “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” and at about the same time in our history of kitschy-coo, notebooks and stickers flooded the market featuring drawn outlines of a girl and boy, and sugar sweet “Love Is” statements.

The Search for the Best Words for Love

People have been looking for the best words to describe love for years, centuries, and perhaps for millennia. Perhaps they have been searching since the days when cavemen began grabbing cavewomen by the hair before dragging them into the cave as a mark of affection. It would have made sense for them to start considering something other than grunts to describe those feelings they were experiencing. Dragging someone by the hair could be hard work, and grunts could be misunderstood. A cliche or two could save a lot of effort.

Fairy tales, poets, Hollywood movies and Internet sites followed centuries later, finding thousands, if not tens of thousands of ways to continue the quest for the best words to describe love. The very fact they kept coming up with new ones indicates it’s not easy – and the best, and most conclusive, description has not yet been found.

What Is Love?

Anyone who can come up with a definitive answer will have discovered something important. It might have more impact than any other scientific discoveries which have earned experts Nobel Prizes over the years. This could happen because it would influence people’s everyday lives and relationships in a way that could change the world. At least then people might have a real reference point when trying to explain love.

As the situation stands now, there are no words, best or otherwise, that will describe love in a way that will satisfy everyone. There isn’t a phrase that will give everyone a lightbulb moment and a reason to respond, “That’s it! Now I know what love is. Now I can love, be loved and, maybe, be in love.”

Parts of Many Speeches

It’s no wonder it’s so difficult. The word “love” forms parts of many types of speech. It can be a noun (or naming word) for a series of sensations, feelings and emotions. It is also a verb or “doing or action word” when it comes to experiencing it. In addition, love also functions as a noun modifier in “love affair,” an adjective in “loving relationship” and an adverb in “He looked at her lovingly.”

Further complicating the idea of describing love in words is the fact that there are so many different types of love. As if it isn’t already impossible to describe the love experience in words, we are expected to find more words, more adjectives, adverbs and other nouns, to attach to that indescribable concept. This will break it down into categories that are more specific, but probably even harder to describe.

Adding to the Confusion

As a result, the following words, and more, are tossed in: unconditional and conditional, free, passionate, romantic, selfless and self, playful, divine, maternal and paternal, brotherly and sisterly, eternal and endless. It’s supposed to help if we add these to the word we find hardest to apply, and almost impossible to describe. It’s meant to make the unmeasurable more manageable by separating it into smaller categories.

The effect it has, however, is to set up a lot more puzzles and challenges. Now we have not only one concept to describe, and to understand, but several. Perhaps once we have come up with the best words to describe unconditional, or even maternal love, we can return to describing romantic love. Then we can hopefully, get closer to understanding the wonderful, scary, passionate and all-consuming experience that is love. It is, indeed, a “many splendored thing” but it’s also sometimes a many pitfalled thing. It can make you the happiest person around, particularly if you experience it as a verb of doing and experiencing. It can also break your heart if you keep falling in and out of the love noun.

Words that Describe Love

For those who are simply looking for a list of words that describe love, or make reference to it, here are some of the most popular:

adorable
affection
amour
angel
bliss
caring
chocolate
companion
compassion
concern
darling
dear
desire
devotion
endearment
family
fondness
forever
friendship
fun
God
happiness
happy
heart
hugs
husband
infatuation
inspiration
intimacy
joy
kiss
kisses
loyalty
marriage
passion
relationship
romance
sex
sweet
sweetheart
tenderness
trust
warmth
wife

What is National Word Day?

There seems to be a day for just about everything. I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if I came across National Let’s Eat Takeout Day, and I’d probably support it if it existed. Earth Day is real enough, but why only one day? Shouldn’t we make every day Earth Day? Maybe we wouldn’t want to turn off the lights for an hour every night, but perhaps we could turn off the TV, or do something else that’s good for the environment.

Now we have National Word Day. Have you never heard about it? Here’s what you need to know!

Why National Word Day?

Have you ever noticed we don’t use a lot of the words in our vocabulary? By the time you reach the age of four, you already know 10,000 words. Once you reach adulthood, you’ll probably know 20,000 to 35,000 different words, and you’ll keep learning new ones until you reach middle age (and possibly even later if you have a curious mind and like to read).

How many of the words you know do you use in everyday speech? I couldn’t find an answer to this question, but I’m ready to guess we probably use the same 10,000 we knew when we were little, if we even use that many.

There are currently 171,476 words in the English language, with more being added every day. I know because I counted them especially for you. Alright, I didn’t. I looked that up.

According to the same source, a further 47,156 words have become obsolete or archaic. What happened to them? People stopped using them so they became extinct. When we stop using words, they just die out of the language, and you have to admit that the mass-extinction of words is rather a sad thing.

That’s why we have National Word Day. It’s a words-conservation drive!

What Should You Do on National Word Day?

We are encouraged to give seldom-used words an airing in the hope that others will pick them up and use them too. National Word Day is a celebration of language. We are encouraged to take the words we use in conversation to the next level, making our speech much more colorful, individual and interesting.

If we are able, we are asked to actually immortalize a word. Is it possible? Yes, it is! We’ll see how a little further on.

Last, but not least, we’re asked to read the dictionary until we find a word we didn’t know. We must then memorize that word and immediately put it to use in our speech and in our writing.

When Is National Word Day?

In celebration of a poet and playwright who has kept many words that would otherwise have become obsolete alive, National Word Day is celebrated on the Ides of March. That’s the 15th of March, the day when Caesar is believed to have been assassinated. This day was immortalized by Shakespeare, keeping the word “Ides” alive, even though it’s usually only used when we read Shakespeare’s play.

On the Ides of March, you get your chance to make a seldom-used word or words immortal. Start thinking which ones you will choose! I think I will go for “rabelaisian,” a word I so seldom use that I had forgotten how to spell it and had to look it up. I like it because it rolls off the tongue nicely, and because it refers to bold, coarse, robust humor which I generally keep out of this blog, but I still enjoy. I would be quite sad if that word died out.

Who Started National Word Day?

I just did! And if I may say so, I’ve got it off to a good start with this blog post. Who gave me the right to do this? Well, it’s a free country isn’t it? You don’t think I have enough credibility to start a special day all on my own? I probably don’t, but you’re going to help me, aren’t you? What’s in it for you? Absolutely nothing! I won’t even promise you my eternal gratitude for your contribution.

Look at it this way: if one person celebrates National Word Day, people will think they’re crazy. If two people celebrate it, people will think it’s a conspiracy, but if you can get three people celebrating the day, people might just think it’s a movement, and join in. Well, that’s my theory anyway.

Who’s up for joining me in the celebration? You’d better start preparing now. It’s like Christmas shopping. If you wait too long, all the best words will be taken. Which one will you choose? Make your pledge now, and don’t forget to invite your friends!

How Many Paragraphs Is 1,000 Words?

This seemingly idle question may not be all that simple to answer. One thing is sure, 1,000 words all written without any paragraph spacing will drive your reader a little mad. The first point is clear: 1,000 words is a lot of words. Split it up into paragraphs for heaven’s sake, or expect your intended readers to head for the hills for a chance to rest their weary eyes on some open space.

So given you need to transform your 1,000 words into something easy on the eyes, you know you have to split it into paragraphs. How do you do that?

A Sentence Is an Idea, a Paragraph Is Closely Related Ideas

Whatever you’re discussing, you’ll discover a number of concepts which you presumably planned before you started writing. To make it all hang together nicely, you add a bit of space when you transition from one area of discussion to another. As with any rule, there are exceptions, but broadly speaking, essay writing and academic writing calls for paragraphs in the 100-200 word range.

Bear in mind that academic and essay writing usually means you’re writing for a fairly dedicated reader, but what about the huge chunk of the population who are frightened off by big chunks of text, even if they are only six or seven lines long (depending on font)?

Journalists and Commercial Writers Keep Their Paragraphs Short

“White space” is a wonderful illusion that tells your reader what you have to say is pretty easy to take in. I’ve seen some news articles in which each paragraph is only one sentence long. I feel that’s taking it to extremes, and it can have the opposite effect of making your writing look disjointed. I like to see at least three or four lines to a paragraph, and as an indication, my longest paragraph so far is just 74 words long.

You can assume commercial writing and news reports will have paragraphs approximately half as long as the ones you’d see in academic or essay writing. In this case, we’re looking at ten to twenty paragraphs per 1,000 words instead of five to ten.

Dialogues Have a New Paragraph for Every New Speaker

One context in which a paragraph can be as short as five characters is direct speech involving two or more speakers.

“Oh!”

Count ’em: two characters for the word, and three for the punctuation marks. To begin with, you’d introduce or refer to your speakers, but once the conversation is flowing nicely, you can start skipping them at times.

“No!” exclaimed Mary.

“Yes!” John couldn’t help being amused at Mary’s surprise.

“You don’t really mean it, do you?”

“Of course I mean it, silly!”

It’s a lot less cumbersome to skip a mention of the speaker than to add “said Mary” and “John said” after every direct quote. So theoretically, you can have a paragraph consisting of one word plus punctuation marks. 1,000 words in direct speech would therefore mean you’d write way more than the five or ten paragraphs our initial guideline suggested.

How Many Paragraphs in 1,000 Words?

Here’s a basic summary.

Probably not less than 5 paragraphs.
For easy reading, probably no less than 10.
For direct speech, one for every time you change speaker (however many times that is).

Does It Matter?

Not necessarily, but bear in mind that even teachers who are paid to read students’ writing get tired eyes. The easier it is to read and understand what you have written, the more likely your teacher is to notice those clever details you included. There’s also a distinct possibility they won’t start hating you while they read your work. Yes, they’re supposed to be unbiased, but everyone is human!

When writing in other contexts: an article, a blog, or a book, keeping paragraphs short helps to hold your reader’s attention. Yes, there are famous writers who just wrote without much attention to paragraphs, or even punctuation, but their work isn’t an easy read, and no matter how educated we may be, “easy” is invariably the preferred option.

To take easy reading to the next level, try using sub-headers every paragraph to three paragraphs. This is applicable to blogs and web pages, and to a certain extent, in academic writing. When you hit a web page for info, what do you do? I look at the header, and then I scan the sub-heads to get an idea of the writer’s approach to the subject. If it looks like fluff, I kill the page and move on. But if the sub-headers are interesting, and seem to tell me there’s something worth learning, I’ll read the whole piece.

Whatever You Do, Use Paragraphs

Using paragraphs well (with or without sub-heads) makes your work more accessible to your reader, and, to a certain extent, it shows you’ve ordered your thoughts and are discussing one point at a time. If you can’t organize your work into paragraphs consisting of related thoughts, you may be jumping around too much. Check it out and try again.

How Many Paragraphs is…

The following list is an approximation for those who are writing essays with the standard 100 – 200 words per paragraph and 50 to 100 words for blog or article easy reading. The actual number of paragraphs will depend on numerous factors and this is nothing more than a general rough estimate. Below are estimated words to paragraphs conversions:

250 words is 1 to 3 paragraphs for essays, 3 to 5 paragraphs for easy writing
500 words is 3 to 5 paragraphs for essays, 5 to 10 paragraphs for easy writing
750 words is 4 to 8 paragraphs for essays, 8 to 15 paragraphs for easy writing
1000 words is 5 to 10 paragraphs for essays, 10 to 20 paragraphs for easy writing
1500 words is 8 to 15 paragraphs for essays, 15 to 30 paragraphs for easy writing
2000 words is 10 to 20 paragraphs for essays, 20 to 40 paragraphs for easy writing
2500 words is 13 to 25 paragraphs for essays, 25 to 50 paragraphs for easy writing
3000 words is 15 to 30 paragraphs for essays, 30 to 60 paragraphs for easy writing
4000 words is 20 to 40 paragraphs for essays, 40 to 80 paragraphs for easy writing
5000 words is 25 to 50 paragraphs for essays, 50 to 100 paragraphs for easy writing

Below are estimated paragraphs to words conversions:

1 paragraph is 100 – 200 words for essays, 50 – 100 words for easy writing
2 paragraphs is 200 – 400 words for essays, 100 – 200 words for easy writing
3 paragraphs is 300 – 600 words for essays, 150 – 300 words for easy writing
4 paragraphs is 400 – 800 words for essays, 200 – 400 words for easy writing
5 paragraphs is 500 – 1,000 words for essays, 250 – 500 words for easy writing
6 paragraphs is 600 – 1,200 words for essays, 300 – 600 words for easy writing
7 paragraphs is 700 – 1,400 words for essays, 350 – 700 words for easy writing
8 paragraphs is 800 – 1,600 words for essays, 400 – 800 words for easy writing
9 paragraphs is 900 – 1,800 words for essays, 450 – 900 words for easy writing
10 paragraphs is 1,000 – 2,000 words for essays, 500 – 1,000 words for easy writing
15 paragraphs is 1,500 – 3,000 words for essays, 750 – 1,500 words for easy writing
20 paragraphs is 2,000 – 4,000 words for essays, 1,000 – 2,000 words for easy writing
25 paragraphs is 2,500 – 5,000 words for essays, 1,250 – 2,500 words for easy writing
50 paragraphs is 5,000 – 10,000 words for essays, 2,500 – 5,000 words for easy writing
100 paragraphs is 10,000 – 20,000 words for essays, 5,000 – 10,000 words for easy writing

Are Words Symbols?

Symbolism is all around us, and although some symbols are universal, some concepts have symbolic significance that are purely individual. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, words are made up of symbols (the alphabet), but words also have a deep symbolic significance in themselves. Even your name is symbol that represents your identity!

Words can be symbols all on their own, or they can be combined to create symbolism. So how are words used as symbols? Here are some examples of specific words as symbols

Colors

Colors, and the words we use to define them are highly symbolic.

“He wore purple.” Purple is associated with royalty and has been since Roman times. Originally, this happened because purple dye was so expensive that only the very wealthy could afford it. In those days, the really wealthy people were aristocrats or monarchs, hence the symbolism of purple for royalty which we still use today.

“She was in a black mood.” Black has many symbolic connections. It could represent grief, but in this context it represents anger and negativity. It’s rather unfair because black is a perfectly lovely color, but there it is!

“Her intentions were white as the driven snow.” White symbolizes purity. I can vouch for it because whenever I wear white, it gets dirty fast!

“When he started to act up, I just saw red!” Here, red symbolizes anger, but it can also symbolize danger. For example, “When he behaved so badly, it was a big red flag for me.”

Miscellaneous Examples

Our ability to equate words with associations has led to everything from flowers to times of the day and directions being used as symbols.

“She chose the left-hand path.” Being left-handed was once considered sinister. In fact, “sinister” even meant “left” at one time. A person who is interested in the left-hand path is into the occult. As a left-hander, I take exception to that.

“It was a downward spiral.” To us, “downward” symbolizes something that is not going well. Personally, I love going downhill, especially on a bicycle, but in other contexts the connotation is less positive.

“Who said life was going to be all roses?” In this example, roses refer to easy living with everything being beautiful and positive. But as we know, every rose has a thorn.

“It’s your baby!” A baby symbolizes responsibility, and no wonder! But it also symbolizes immaturity, helplessness or weakness. For example, “Don’t be a baby!”

“It was the dawn of a new era,” or “It suddenly dawned on me!” Dawn or sunrise represent something new.

“In your twilight years, you want peace of mind.” Just as dawn symbolizes a fresh start, twilight symbolizes a period when things come to an end.

“Alcohol was his crutch.” A crutch helps us along, but it also symbolizes other ways to get by.

These forms of symbolism are so universal among English speakers that few people even think of the reasons for the symbolism behind them.

Are All Words Symbols?

“Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch on absolute truth…” (Nietzsche)

It’s time to open your mind. Although we’ve looked at words being used symbolically, Nietzsche contended that all words are symbols, and if you think about it, he was absolutely right! A word is just a collection of syllables, but when we hear it, all sorts of ideas and associations come flooding into our minds.

These can be quite subjective. For instance, the word “lavender” could make you think of the countryside, or it could make you think of elderly people, your mother’s garden, or perhaps a friend. It all depends on the personal associations or symbolism the word has to you. No wonder communication is such a minefield.

Have you ever found yourself arguing with someone who is basically agreeing with you in different words? That’s because your frame of reference is different. The words you used don’t have the same associations or symbolism for the other person as they do for you.

Words are symbols for thoughts, and no matter what language you speak, you use them according to the thoughts you associate with those words. For example, if you had a happy childhood, the word “mother” brings along all kinds of positive associations, but for some people, it just can’t have the same effect, even when they understand the broader cultural context.

It would be impossible to show you an example of the way we use all words as symbols other than to say this entire article is a combination of symbols intended to convey a set of ideas. Because we have a shared context, the English language, most of the words mean similar things to all of us, but if your context differs from mine, you may have trouble understanding what I’m trying to say.

Words Are Used Symbolically and All Words Are Symbols

So now you know. If you thought words were just words, think again. We may share a mutual understanding of words, or we may fail to understand one another because the symbols (words) mean different things to us based on our life experiences or frame of reference.