New Word Fusion

Have you ever searched for the exact word to describe something and realized there isn't one? So you made up your own.

I did that last week as I sat in a writer's critique group and pondered these dear friends who are enthusiastic about all things writing.

We get deep into word choice, punctuation, story plot, and character development. We can agonize over exact sentence structure, overuse of adverbs, and point of view. We listen, suggest, tweak, and discuss our work meticulously.

If non-writers had to sit through one of our meetings, they would scratch their heads and shout, "Who cares how you make the point? Just do it and move on. Who cares how many commas you use or when to use a hyphen? Why does cause and effect really matter?"

You see, they don't understand we are GERDS! My new word.

That is where a geek and a nerd fuse excitement and expertise with passion.

The geek is off-the-chart excited to excel in a particular uncommon subject. Our hearts beat faster as we get in the writing trenches and thrash out better dialog, clearer description, or deeper characterization.

The nerd is an expert in some technical field. Most folks don't care to pursue perfect sentence structure, variation, and length. But we delve deep seeking better ways to communicate our message clearer.

I so appreciate these dear writer buds! They get my writing gerdiness and spur me to be a better writer and person.

Now I bet there is an area of your life that you qualify as a GERD. What is it?

Quilting, cooking, crafting, knitting, scrapbooking, cleaning (feel free to practice at my house), devoted deep learning of the Bible. In other words, where do excitement and your expertise merge? That's your GERD specialty.

I'm super curious to hear what makes your heart zing. Please leave a comment on how you're a GERD.  

Tammy Van Gils plants words and grows insightful stories blooming with hope. She is a thriving survivor of abuse, abandonment and adversity. How? By the Master Gardener's grace, the Vine's love, and the Advocate's renewal—emotionally and spiritually. She is sowing life with her husband of 35 years, a Yorkie Poo named Moose, and a dozen chickens. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. She's honored to be a guest blogger and also a contributor to The Wonders of Nature Devotion Book, Let the Earth Rejoice Devotions, So God Made a Dog, Worthy Inspired and Short and Sweet Too, Grace Publishing.