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Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 21, 2011, 10:48:50 AM
by Lester Curtis
So . . . there I was, happily writing along on my novel, and *blink* -- the word I was seeking had just plumb disappeared from my brain. It's a synonym for "intelligent being, and I wound up just using "sapient," but I KNOW I've seen another, ending in "-ont." Is it "sophont"? That one doesn't show up in my huge, fat Webster's Unabridged Encyclopedic.
I really hate when this happens . . . damn scary, feeling parts of my brain go AWOL.
Help me out!
EDIT: Never mind, I found it.
Re: Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 21, 2011, 11:42:47 AM
by Megawatts
My brain has always been AWOL. Or it functions as an abverb, I really don't know what that means, but it sounds interesting!
Have all the tools needed at your finger-tips---dictionary, thesaurus your writing journals---and go over them often, even when you're not writing.
Sometimes I'll try to show instead of using a word. It takes longer, but I can
'show' the exact thought that I was trying to say.
Re: Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 21, 2011, 11:47:35 AM
by Robert_Moriyama
Lester Curtis wrote:So . . . there I was, happily writing along on my novel, and *blink* -- the word I was seeking had just plumb disappeared from my brain. It's a synonym for "intelligent being, and I wound up just using "sapient," but I KNOW I've seen another, ending in "-ont." Is it "sophont"? That one doesn't show up in my huge, fat Webster's Unabridged Encyclopedic.
I really hate when this happens . . . damn scary, feeling parts of my brain go AWOL.
Help me out!
EDIT: Never mind, I found it.
Was the word you were looking for "sophont"?
Re: Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 21, 2011, 01:04:19 PM
by Lester Curtis
Sometimes I'll try to show instead of using a word. It takes longer, but I can
'show' the exact thought that I was trying to say.
I couldn't do that in the particular instance where I had the problem . . . it came up in dialog, and the character speaks very concisely. Still, that's a good suggestion. Might increase the word count, too.
Yes, the word I was looking for is "sophont," but I couldn't use it in the context I had. Here's the text, as I finally left it:
"Understood." She paused for a moment, as though thinking, and her color turned a cloudy blue. "The Charter has determined the subject to be an authentic life-form, species unnamed, native to a Class One planet, location unknown. Sentience?"
Raj responded. "She has a sophisticated brain structure with a fairly high level of neural activity . . . we haven't been able to test her yet, but that's a promising indication. Also, her hands are very like ours, with opposable thumbs and comparable dexterity."
So, a noun wouldn't have worked there.
Yeah, I use my references a lot, especially the ones I've put together myself in a binder of handwritten notes.
Thanks, guys.
Re: Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 21, 2011, 01:14:21 PM
by Megawatts
I've even asked my wife, and, to my surprise, she sometimes comes- through for me!!!!!
Re: Need help finding vocabulary
Posted: March 22, 2011, 10:46:41 AM
by Lester Curtis
bottomdweller wrote:sentient
Why, yes . . . I believe I am . . .