In my experience as an unpublished, agent-less author, a theasurus is a necessary tool. Sometimes as a writer your mind abandons you and you lose all hope of finding the right words to use. You want to express what X thinks about Y and why N does trust Y but you can't put it into words or at least the right words.
So after many attempts of slamming your head against your laptop screen, you have a thought. Synonyms! The light switch flickers on at last! You scroll down to the word or phrase, your heart skipping several beats. You left click, synonyms and then...(No suggestions)!
Sometimes books are no better. Today I was attempting to use animalistic imagery to portray the actions of a group. I didn't want to use the word animalistic so I tried synonyms. (No suggestions). Fail! Then I tried a book. The word animalistic wasn't even printed! Finally I checked the internet and was given the synonyms carnal, erotic, arousing... Sooo not on the same wavelength there... I was thinking more like Caliban from The Tempest than Samantha Sex and the City!
So I pose to you the question: The thesaurus - a friend or foe?
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