Most people are familiar with the thesaurus. You’re writing a paper and you used the same word several times. Repetition is never good; actually it can be plain boring. So you grab your thesaurus and search for another word. Or better yet, you can grab your copy of Roget’s International Thesaurus, and you’ll be greeted by more exciting choices than you ever thought possible. Way more choices than in a regular thesaurus.
Unlike the typical thesaurus, which is listed in alphabetic order, words in the Roget’s International Thesaurus are listed according to categories. You look up the word you want in the index (which is listed alphabetically) and it will refer you to several different categories. You pick the one(s) that best represent the definition you’re looking for then zip over to the appropriate page. You’ll be astounded; I promise.
If you’re not positive what word you’re looking for, then you can skim through the categories listed at the front of the book to get some suggestions. For example, you want to talk about your protagonist’s fear of spiders.
You could say: I felt scared.
Or worse yet: I was scared.
Not good enough, you think. So you skim though the categories in Roget’s International Thesaurus and decide to show the movement of fear going through your body. Hmmm. Streams flow. So you flip to the section under streams, and study the verbs listed. Now this isn’t some tiny spider that’s causing ‘fear to seep’ into your body. It’s huge. Like one of those from the second Harry Potter movie, The Chamber of Secrets. Now your ‘fear surges’ through your body, or any of the other vivid verb that appeal to you. See how easy that was to breathe life into your writing? And the best part is the book isn’t expensive. It’s the same price of a YA hardback novel.