法国小说家古斯塔夫·福楼拜一生都在寻找合适的词：

Whatever you want to say, there is only one word that will express it, one verb to make it move, one adjective to qualify it. You must seek that word, that verb, that adjective, and never be satisfied with approximations, never resort to tricks, even clever ones, or to verbal pirouettes to escape the difficulty. (letter to Guy de Maupassant)

福楼拜是一个完美主义者（碰巧有独立收入），他会花上几天时间为一句话发愁，直到他把话说得恰到好处。

我想，我们大多数人都没有这样的时间。因此，我们在起草时往往不得不“对近似值感到满意”。近义词和几乎正确的词语，如临时桥梁，让我们在最后期限到来之前继续下一句话。

尽管如此，将不精确的词语转换为精确的词语仍然是修改草案的关键部分——这一过程不能简化为一种简单的方法或巧妙的技巧。当你下次发现自己在寻找合适的词时，这里有10点值得考虑。

1.耐心点

In revising, if the right word is not at hand, run a search, sort, select process through your mind to see if you can find it. (Even then, a word may be elusive, refusing to emerge from the mind one day only to arise from the subconscious the next.) Be prepared to rewrite today what you revised yesterday. Above all, be patient: take the time to select words that will transfer your exact thought to the mind of a reader.

May Flewellen-McMillan，《论文的最短路径：修辞策略》。美世大学出版社，1984年

2.把你的字典用坏了

一旦你有了字典，就要尽可能多地使用它。

When you sit down to write and need a particular word, pause to consider the key ideas you want to convey. Start with a word that's in the ballpark. Look it up and go from there, exploring synonyms, roots, and usage notes. Many's the time a usage note in the American Heritage Dictionary has led me to the word that fits, much as the right jigsaw puzzle piece slips into place.

简·维诺利亚，正确的词！：如何说出你真正的意思。十速出版社，2003年

3.认识内涵

Do not be fooled into thinking you can substitute one word for another simply because a thesaurus groups them together under a single entry. The thesaurus will do you little good unless you are familiar with the connotations of possible synonyms for a given word. "Portly," "chubby," "chunky," "heavy," "overweight," "stocky," "plump," and "obese" are all possible synonyms for "fat," but they are not interchangeable. . . . Your task is to select the word that conveys most accurately the precise shade of meaning or feeling you intend.

彼得·G·贝德勒，写作问题。咖啡城出版社，2010年

4.把你的词典收起来

Using a thesaurus will not make you look smarter. It will only make you look like you are trying to look smarter.

阿德里安·道汉（Adrienne Dowhan）等人，《将让你进入大学的论文》，第三版，巴伦出版社，2009年

5.听

[B]ear in mind, when you're choosing words and stringing them together, how they sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes. But in fact they hear what they are reading far more than you realize. Therefore such matters as rhythm and alliteration are vital to every sentence.

威廉·辛瑟，《论写作的好》，第7版，哈珀柯林斯，2006年

6.当心花言巧语

There is a difference between vivid language and unnecessarily fancy language. As you search for the particular, the colorful, and the unusual, be careful not to choose words merely for their sound or appearance rather than for their substance. When it comes to word choice, longer is not always better. As a rule, prefer simple, plain language over fancy language . . . Avoid language that seems stilted or unnecessarily formal in favor of language that sounds natural and genuine to your ear. Trust the right word — whether fancy or plain — to do the job.

斯蒂芬·威尔伯斯，伟大写作的关键。作家文摘图书，2000年

7.删除口头禅

They may be more pests than pets. They are the words you overuse without even knowing it. My own problem words are "very," "just," and "that." Delete them if they're not essential.

约翰·杜弗兰，说真话的谎言。W.W.诺顿，2003年

8.去掉错误的单词

I do not choose the right word. I get rid of the wrong one. Period.

罗伯特·潘·沃伦在《纽黑文访谈》中引用了A.E.霍斯曼的话，《小说研究》，1970年

9是真的

"How do I know," the sometimes despairing writer asks, "which the right word is?" The reply must be: only you can know. The right word is, simply, the wanted one; the wanted word is the one most nearly true. True to what? Your vision and your purpose.

伊丽莎白·伯恩，《事后思考：关于写作的作品》，1962年

10享受这个过程

[P]eople often forget that the sheer joy of finding the right word which expresses a thought is extraordinary, an emotional rush of an intense kind.

剧作家迈克尔·麦肯齐，埃里克·阿姆斯特朗引用，1994年

为找到合适的词而奋斗真的值得付出努力吗？马克·吐温是这样认为的。“几乎正确的词和正确的词之间的区别确实是一个很大的问题，”他曾经说。“这就是闪电虫和闪电的区别。”