Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

Half the battle of being a writer is locating the correct word for a particular context.

There's a big difference between using a phrase like "that scrawny man" and "that lithe man," even though the words are essentially synonyms. 

Every entry in the Oxford English Dictionary contains a beautiful citation that locates the word in real-word usage, helping you grok the best context for the word. Now there's a television show where contestants actually help the OED spot the original context of a word in the real world--it's a combination of citizen journalism, reality television and word porn for all us writers.

Our writing depends on our contextual brain muscles. Whenever I can, I practice coming up with the ideal adjective or noun for describing people on the subway. Seen Reading is the perfect website to read while practicing this kind of contextual description.

Dig it:

"The OED seeks to find the earliest verifiable usage of every single word in the English language—currently 600,000 in the OED and counting—and of every separate meaning of every word."  

(Thanks, Papercuts)