No matter your age, it can sometimes be so hard to find the right word to describe exactly how you’re feeling. As you get older (I’m finding) things like, well, being old – but also sleep deprivation and having a million things on your mind – make plucking that one word you know but can’t remember start to feel impossible.
If you’re familiar with that “the more you grasp for it, the farther away it runs” feeling, well, this vocabulary wheel is going to seem pretty awesome to you.
Image Credit: Kaitlin Robb
If you’re young and have no idea what I’m talking about, well, just bookmark this post for later. You’ll need it – I promise.
As a writer, I can also see this coming in handy when you feel like you’re repeating the same words, dialogue tags, or slang over and over again for the same (or different) characters.
The wheel diagram was written by English teacher Kaitlin Robbs. The way it works is that you start with a basic emotion, then move outward until you have the best synonym for the job.
There are other wheels (like the one below), but they’re all fairly similar.
Even if the idea isn’t totally groundbreaking, these are definitely useful tools that you might want to keep around for the next time you’re writing a story, a paper, or just trying to argue with your spouse.
If you’re looking for a practical, everyday application, I just gave it to you!
