Words: Introduction

Poet T.S. Eliot remarks that every act of writing “Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate / With shabby equipment always deteriorating.” Words are the writer’s equipment. And as every good soldier, sailor, or pilot knows, equipment needs to be kept in good order and readiness. A facility, perhaps even a fascination, with words distinguishes capable and engaging writers. Out of their stores of language, writers present a line of words that are intended variously to inform us, persuade us, invoke our emotions, stimulate our imagination, or perform some exchange of meaning. Words are the only tools for the task, and writers take pains to learn how to use the tools of language well, with creativity and care.

At the links to the right you will find items that address a range of word issues, from basic spelling rules you may have forgotten, or never quite learned, to matters of proper handling and care of the equipment of language. If you are browsing, you should begin where every writer should begin the search for a better understanding of how to use words: with a dictionary.