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The Power of Words: Invitation to Write #3

For Writers:

Writers must believe in the power of words, but where does the power come from? What gives words strung into sentences the force to change reality? Of course, some might choose to argue that words don’t change reality. Some might say that words can describe changes in reality, but reality itself simply “is.”

In an age inundated with constant visual images, some have claimed that the power of the written word is a thing of the past. Authors of the postmodern age believed that language itself was “exhausted.” And yet, without words to communicate their philosophy, how would we have ever known what they were thinking?

Words, of course, work on various levels. They can be spoken or written, saved or forgotten, true or false. Human beings have a natural ability to learn words at a very early age, and anyone who has ever spent any time with small toddlers must be impressed every time they hear them add a new word to their vocabularies.

Words are magical. Whole worlds are contained within each one.

Today write about words. Explore the sensations you feel as you write. Where do the right words come from, and why do we feel so frustrated when we have a word on the tip of our tongues that remains hidden? Count to five and start with the first word that enters your head. Write until you reach the end of the page.

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet

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