A Writing Tool With a Twist: The Visual Thesaurus

September 7, 2010 in Writing Tips | Comment

If you’re a writer or copywriter, you sometimes find yourself stuck for a word—and you keep comin’ up with nothin’. You could pull out your printed thesaurus. You could check your word processor’s thesaurus. Or you could just dive into the online Visual Thesaurus by Thinkmap.

Look up a word in the Visual Thesaurus, and that word literally explodes across the screen. Watch your word become the center of a color-coded network of related words. Then set your screen in motion. Explore interconnections. Consider synonyms. Analyze antonyms. Check your word’s parts of speech in the right sidebar. It’s pretty much word-working paradise—all with a few mouse clicks.

You can test the Visual Thesaurus—free! Just type your word into the box at the top of the home page—or hit the “Random Word” button for fun. Then sit back and think in a whole new way.

The Visual Thesaurus is available in both online and desktop editions. No matter which format you choose, you’ll have more than 145,000 words to explore. An online subscription runs about $20 a year. You can even incorporate the Visual Thesaurus into Microsoft Word.

Why do I find this little writing tool so helpful? I’m a linear thinker: I usually go from A to B to C. The Visual Thesaurus forces me to take side trips to R, S and T—and not necessarily in that order. It breaks up my mental logjams and sends me off in creative directions.

Does the Visual Thesaurus work for everyone? No. One person basically said to me, “Why is this helpful?” You either “get it” or you don’t. And either you’ll use it—or you won’t.

How about you? Is the Visual Thesaurus a writing tool you would use? Give it a try and let me know. Have some creative ways you already use it? Let me hear about those, too.

As a freelance copywriter, I find the Visual Thesaurus to be a great writing tool when I’m stuck for the right word. Why? Getting “unstuck” is so much fun!