You can be a great wordsmith!
You don’t have to be naturally creative to become one. All you need is Selma Glasser’s classic book The Analogy Book of Related Words: Your Secret Shortcut to Power Writing.
I don’t usually review books, but this one is irresistible.
It’s not only one that will educate and train you to be the skilled wordsmith you want to be, but it will also provide you with hours of entertainment and amusement.
Are you an author, freelancer, novelist, poet, storyteller, educator, speaker, minister, entertainer, public official, contester, ad copywriter, publicist, or speechwriter? These are just some of the people who need this book.
For example, with this book, contesters will enhance their ability to win prizes. I have a friend who is gifted at winning writer’s contests, and this book has greatly enhanced her skills.
And, this book is invaluable for those who generate advertising copy and constantly need a flow of ideas.
In Glasser’s superb reference book of words, terms, examples, clever slogans, jingles, verse, epigrams, puns, parody, and limericks, anyone– at any level– can develop their writing and speech.
This book will stimulate you to write your own fresh and engaging analogies to make you sparkle in print or before an audience. Glasser’s striking phrases, illustrations, humorous quips, and clichés give you a foundation for incorporating analogous words into your work or hobby interests.
Glasser makes the analogy process simple. All one has to do is find a subject area in the book with a word list that one likes, choose words that would fit into your own subject matter, and use them.
For example, you can use words associated with agriculture to write a slogan for business people.
Glasser’s example is:
To CULTIVATE customers and REAP goodwill, RAISE quality, not prices.
As another example, she uses words associated with nationality to create this:
I shop at (department store name) because their suits feature SCOTCH thriftiness, FRENCH verve, ENGLISH excellence, AMERICAN style, and UNIVERSAL appeal!
I really like this one using basketball phrases:
When you SHOOT off your mouth, you COURT disaster, put people in a FOUL mood and get everybody on the DEFENSIVE.
As for limericks, Glasser uses one involving words associated with football:
To college Dad sent his son Jack
Paying bills every year by the stack
Now what can Dad show
For spending that dough?
All he got was a lone QUARTER BACK!
If you like jingles, Glasser offers this clever one using musical terms:
If HARMONY is what you crave,
Go get a TUBA Burma-Shave!
As you can see, Glasser’s imaginative examples grow on you, and her comprehensive book is jam-packed with them.
I highly recommend this delightful book by an author who has made guest appearances on many television shows, including the “Today Show.” Her work has appeared in top publications including: The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, Saturday Evening Post, Playboy, Harpers, and the Los Angeles Times.
“The Analogy Book of Related Words” is published by Communication Creativity, copyright 1990. It has 210 pages.
Copyright 2012 by Charlotte Digregorio.
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About Charlotte Digregorio
I publish books. I have marketed and/or published 55 titles. These books are sold in 46 countries to bookstores, libraries, universities, professional organizations, government agencies, and book clubs. In 2018, I was honored by the Governor of Illinois for my thirty-eight years of accomplishments in the literary arts, and my work to promote and advance the field by educating adults and students alike. I am the author of seven books including: Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All; Everything You Need to Know About Nursing Homes; You Can Be A Columnist; Beginners' Guide to Writing & Selling Quality Features; Your Original Personal Ad; and my latest, Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing.
The first four books have been adopted as supplemental texts at universities throughout the U.S., Canada, India, Pakistan, and Catalonia. They are sold in 43 countries, and are displayed in major metropolitan cultural centers. These books have been reviewed, recommended, and praised by hundreds of critics, librarians, and professors worldwide.
I am also the author of a poetry collection: "Shadows of Seasons: Selected Haiku and Senryu by Charlotte Digregorio." Two of my books have been Featured Selections of Writer's Digest Book Club. I am regularly interviewed by major print, radio, and television organizations throughout the U.S. I regularly sign books at libraries, chain bookstores, and university bookstores, and do poetry readings at art centers, cafes, tea houses, and galleries.
I was recently nominated for two Pushcart Prizes in poetry. I have won fifty-nine poetry awards, writing fourteen poetic forms. My poetry has been translated into eight languages. I do illustrated solo poetry exhibits 365 days a year in libraries, galleries, corporate buildings, hospitals, convention centers, and other venues. My individual poems have been displayed at supermarkets, apparel and wine shops, banks, botanic gardens, restaurants, and on public transit.
I have been nominated and listed in "The International Authors and Writers Who's Who" in Cambridge, England and in the "Who's Who In Writers, Editors & Poets U.S./Canada." I hosted my own radio program, "Poetry Beat," on public broadcasting. My poetry has been featured on several library web sites including those of Shreve Memorial Library in Louisiana and Cornell University's Mann Library.
My background includes positions as a feature editor and columnist at daily newspapers and as a magazine editor. I have been a public relations director for a non-profit organization. I am self-employed as a public relations/marketing consultant, having served a total of 118 clients in 23 states for the past several decades .
In other professional areas, I have been on university faculties, teaching French, Italian, and Writing.
I regularly give lectures and workshops on publishing, journalism, publicity, poetry, and creativity to business and professional groups, and at writer's conferences, universities, literary festivals, non-profit organizations, and libraries. I have been a writer-in-residence at universities.
There have been about 400 articles written about me in the media. I have served on the Boards of writers and publishers organizations. My positions have included Board Secretary of the Northwest Association of Book Publishers. I served for five years as Midwest Regional Coordinator of The Haiku Society of America, and for two years as its Second Vice President.
Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog 
My greates hurdle to writing is time. To write (for me) it takes a very long time to wander through the words and explore their relation to one another … Our world has become so full of words that they come at you in a flood and there’s no time to think about the contents of what is drowning us all…. Since I’ve had the computer up, it has gotten worse than ever. Lately there’s no time to read or draw or do anything but respond to what the moment demands of us… and with the computer the flood gates are open…
My one desire is to corner this a bit… My one fear is that I will live in dread of adding more words…. for each word goes out from each of us to connect with another…and once that connection is made it must be maintained. So use your words judicially …
Hope my words here haven’t rained on your parade! You do a great job for helping us all to be aware of what language can do for us and to us! Many thanks. Merrill
Merrill, Thanks for your kind words. I think there’s a haiku or two in what you just said–each word goes out from each of us to connect with another . . .
I just attended a marathon workshop for writers here in Alabama. AMAZING! It deepened my passion for words in ways I didn’t expect, but will treasure. Thanks for this post. This book seems to be calling my name. 🙂
Carla, Best of luck! You have such enthusiasm for writing, and I know every writing project you undertake will be a success. Keep plugging away!
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement also!
I’m a student who loves writing. There is this novel I intend to write, and I really need all the ideas i can get. I need this book but I find it difficult to download it for free. can anyone help me with a link? Pdf format is ok. Thanks!
You can get it through your library or inter-library loan. Thanks.
Charlotte
Ok. I just thought it would be better to download the ebook, so I could read it at my leisure. Thanks anyway.
What a wonderful review that is filled with vivid, engaging examples of why all of uswriters should seek out this book to enable us to easily grow our love for words! I want to rush over to Amazon in search of this potentially life-changing aid to my writing potential and the content of my days! Thanks for this very-useful review!!
Thanks, J. A. This book is a classic!