There seems to be a feeling among non-writers that using a thesaurus in the creative process is cheating.  It smacks to their minds of either a lack of know-how or else an attempt to add “bigâ€� words to make the author look more intelligent than he/she is in reality.  No such thing!  A thesaurus acts mainly as a memory prompt.  It isn’t that the writer doesn’t know a half dozen ways to say “he jumpedâ€� but that she/he can’t think of them “right this second.â€�  Looking at all the possibilities only speeds a process that would have happened anyway.  Why would we need a dozen ways to say “jumped?â€�  Well, first of all, the action we’re showing may be more dramatic, smoother, less abrupt, or a dozen other variable.  Then, using it too many times in a paragraph or on a page may bring it to the reader’s attention.  He or she could stop and think, “Hmm, “jumpedâ€� again; this writer’s characters are just “jumpingâ€� all over the place.â€�  Anything that stops the reader, taking them out of the story, is automatically bad.

Microsoft Word, the word processing program preferred by many writers, has a built-in thesaurus, one which can be accessed under the Tools command.  However, a quick check of any word can be done by placing the cursor on the word, then right clicking the mouse and pulling it down to the word “Synonyms.â€�  This automatic thesaurus is designed for the average user, however, and often isn’t comprehensive enough for writers.  I also use a program called WordWeb Thesaurus and Dictionary.  A free copy of this program may be downloaded at: http://www.Wordweb.co.uk/