“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic – capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II

As every writer knows, words are magic.  Writers have the ability and obligation to invoke all types of emotions in our readers; words which cause our readers to laugh out loud or bring a tear to their eye, make them angry or have the power to bring back precious memories.

Take the words ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’.  These words are basically the same – you have been a victim of something and you have survived the ordeal.  Journalists use these types of words to create emotion in their stories – ‘the victims of the attack’ or ‘the survivors of the attack’. 

Michael Hyatt has a video on his website showing the power of words.  Writing the same thing, but using different words, can make a huge difference, not only in your writing, but in the response of the reader.

The slogan I use for my writing is “where words really matter”.  Make sure that as a writer you select those magical words that invoke in your readers the response you are looking for – make your words really matter to the reader.