Thread: In search of a synonym

I am in search of a word or words that would describe an undiscovered, pristine and beautiful place in nature. A synonym for paradise I guess. I have found nothing online that sounds right to me.

Here is the sentence: Saturated by a massive wave of inspiration from this newly discovered __ , I grab my pen and notebook and begin recording my random thoughts.

I am willing to restructure the sentence.

The word Utopia only pertains to a society, correct? Meaning, man would have to be involved?

how about an adjective noun combination, such as 'bucolic scene'

How about 'fantasia'? Or depending on the era in which your book is set, you could go for the archaic 'phantasia'.

Why do you need one word? Just say what you mean. How does it make your character feel? Use the moment to reveal something about the character.

Invent your own usage, something with an echo of an existing word - Something like Elysia.

Saturated by a massive wave of inspiration from the sight of this new Elysia , I grab my pen and notebook and begin recording random thoughts. (You can drop the my, they're not anyone elses)

I think most people may assume that this is where the Elysian fields come from and it will fit the bill, so they won't question it. It is the name of a band, or a genus of gastropod and a cosmetic cream.

If you look through Greek or Roman myth you may find an alternative which could be modified.

How about:

OASIS

?

Though, honestly, I would drop out that troublesome section alltogether, so it would read like this:

"Saturated by a wave of inspiration, I grab my pen and notebook and begin recording random thoughts."

And save the description of the natural location for another sentence, or paragraph. Hope any of that helps, cheers.

Kyle, I think you're absolutely right; I think I will simplify and leave it out. But thank you everyone for your help. All of your suggestions are very good and would work quite well. Olly, I wish I had your vocabulary; I had to look up bucolic. I seem to lean towards bucolic backdrops when I write, so I will stash it away for future use.

I'm fairly new to writing. Do you guys still get hung up on sentences? Sometimes I will be moving along at a good pace and then all of the sudden I will stop and dwell on one sentence. I'll end up changing it a dozen or so times before it's all said and done because I'm lacking that perfect word or I don't think it flows right. It's like I have OCD and it makes for very slow writing sometimes.

Brock, perfection is something that comes in the later drafts. In the first draft it is much more important to get words down on paper. Don't let one sentence stop a good flow. Get down enough to record the basic idea then keep moving. You can fix it later.

How about Eden?

Originally Posted by Brock

I'm fairly new to writing. Do you guys still get hung up on sentences? Sometimes I will be moving along at a good pace and then all of the sudden I will stop and dwell on one sentence. I'll end up changing it a dozen or so times before it's all said and done because I'm lacking that perfect word or I don't think it flows right. It's like I have OCD and it makes for very slow writing sometimes.

I'm like that too, sometimes. I like to think of it as having high standards, and often my best lines started out as total rubbish that I rewrote over and over again. Just don't lose sight of the big picture, the sentence is just a small part of a larger whole.

I'm fairly new to writing. Do you guys still get hung up on sentences? Sometimes I will be moving along at a good pace and then all of the sudden I will stop and dwell on one sentence. I'll end up changing it a dozen or so times before it's all said and done because I'm lacking that perfect word or I don't think it flows right. It's like I have OCD and it makes for very slow writing sometimes.

Different folks, different strokes, I tend to simply sit and spew it all out at first, that makes sure I have the basic idea down and I am not going to lose the concept, then I go back over it and remove all the unnecessary stuff where I have repeated myself or said things like 'at this present moment in time' instead of 'now'. When that's done I realise I have put things in the wrong order and left bits out. Get it all in order and I start fine tuning, matching the vocabulary to the characters, that sort of thing. But yes, to get something that flows as though it was free, spontaneous writing can take an age.

And don't worry about the vocabulary, firstly if you keep checking out the ones you don't know it comes, I have been doing that for a long time, I'm 66 now and learned to use a dictionary when I was about eight. Secondly, it doesn't always pay to interrupt your reader's flow by putting in words they have to look up, occasionally, yes, but people sometimes get carried away with it, and it's not a good style.

'I'm fairly new to writing. Do you guys still get hung up on sentences? Sometimes I will be moving along at a good pace and then all of the sudden I will stop and dwell on one sentence. I'll end up changing it a dozen or so times before it's all said and done because I'm lacking that perfect word or I don't think it flows right. It's like I have OCD and it makes for very slow writing sometimes.'

I had the same issue for a while, Brock. For a long while. Then I just realized that I'm best when I just write and keep writing, regardless of mistakes and stuff. I fix little things like spelling and grammar, but as far as how well the sentence sounds or how well structured it is, I save that for later. If I get in this 'zone' or whatever, I just have to keep up the flow or else it'll fall apart. I go back later and fix things, rework things and mold them for the better. For me it's like creating a sculpture I guess, you start with the rough stuff and refine it. Other people work differently though.

By the way I don't know how to do that quote thing, so I just copied and pasted the comment I wanted to reply to.

Originally Posted by beef_razor

'I'm fairly new to writing. Do you guys still get hung up on sentences? Sometimes I will be moving along at a good pace and then all of the sudden I will stop and dwell on one sentence. I'll end up changing it a dozen or so times before it's all said and done because I'm lacking that perfect word or I don't think it flows right. It's like I have OCD and it makes for very slow writing sometimes.'

I had the same issue for a while, Brock. For a long while. Then I just realized that I'm best when I just write and keep writing, regardless of mistakes and stuff. I fix little things like spelling and grammar, but as far as how well the sentence sounds or how well structured it is, I save that for later. If I get in this 'zone' or whatever, I just have to keep up the flow or else it'll fall apart. I go back later and fix things, rework things and mold them for the better. For me it's like creating a sculpture I guess, you start with the rough stuff and refine it. Other people work differently though.

By the way I don't know how to do that quote thing, so I just copied and pasted the comment I wanted to reply to.

Sometimes it is best to turn off your internal editor - It's easier to go back and edit later than to remember what you forgot when you stopped to edit on the fly.