Proclamations in the midst of Social Contracts

Ever since Words with Friends became available on the Android Market I've been taking on all comers.  I love Scrabble, and I REALLY love Speed Scrabble.  Words with Friends is just different enough to cause me pause.  It's like switching from playing loads of SSX Tricky to Tony Hawk 4; similar concept, but the buttons seem all wonky.  My current win rate is around 70 percent, but I might just have to uninstall the game.  At times, it is the most frustrating bit of trash I've ever encountered... EVER!  Here's the thing: there are three types of players who play that game.  1) Scrabble fans - in the world of WWF we're basically the newbs.  We play by the rules, only play words we know, and often suffer great losses to words like "QAT" or "JO."  2) WWF pros - they've played the game so long, they know all the ins and outs.  They look for opportunities to play "QI" at the drop of a hat, and are more than comfortable playing Proper Nouns and all those two-letter words the game allows.  No, don't try looking those words up in a dictionary... they're not there.  But these people "know" them because they've had them used against them a thousand times before.  Sadly, I find myself slipping toward this group with each new match-up... it's the only way to stay competitive sometimes.  3) The Fraggin' Cheaters - Now, there's the obvious cheating - looking up words using a Scrabble dictionary or some website that unscrambles your letters for you - but I hate the people who throw trash at the board to see if it will stick just as much.  Usually, they just hit "Play" until something goes through... and you can always tell.  I've run into "words" recently such as "ATT" and "LEZ."  Seriously?  I even asked the guy who played "LEZ" what it meant.  I'll give you two guesses what his response was.  You also get people playing words that you know didn't come out of their normal vocabulary.  For example, anyone know a five-letter word that is a variation of the traditional spelling of a name for a large German coin?  I do now, cause I looked it up after it was played against me.  I might be able to buy that the person knew the name of a large German coin, but the less-common variation?  These people beat me - handedly - every time we play.  Coincidentally, I don't go out of my way to start games with them. 

                I think writing can be the same way.  I recently read a collection of tips, one each from thirty different published authors.  One of these writers suggested right clicking words throughout your manuscript, substituting a synonym, and then right-clicking the inserted synonym and doing it again.  Now, I'm all for expanding your vocabulary, but I find it very obvious when people have forced words into their text.  So much of writing and what makes good writers stand out is their voice.  As a new writer, how can I expect to develop my own voice if I'm just sitting on a thesaurus?  The expansion of one's vocabulary should be a natural process.  I'm all for word-a-day calendars and the pursuit of new words, but simply forcing a word into a sentence is a very unnatural process.  Perhaps if this were only used in practice on side projects or throw-away flash fiction challenges, this might be a good way of learning new words and expanding your vocabulary over time.  Anyone used this method?  Did it work for you?  A simple "contracted" (two synonym steps away from "yes" according to Microsoft Word) will suffice.

                Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: words should be expressive and help the reader understand what you are trying to show them.  Sometimes it takes one of them-there five dollar words to get your point across, and I'm not saying you shouldn't use them.  My beef is with using big words for the sake of big words.  Words should be used to tell the story.  They should never be crammed into your text just to make yourself look smarter.  Now, if you really think "detritus" is the best word to use, go for it.