Precisely: by Devi Laskar

I’m going back to the basics, so to speak, back to the things that I know should propel me to write, and to form a writing habit that will be consistent. I’m going back to my roots, and the roots of my writing. Underneath it all, I’m a country girl from North Carolina, displaced and homesick, nostalgic and fanatical in my devotion for college basketball.

One of the very first things I ever learned in a writing class was to write a “thousand-word sentence.” My teacher that year was Jill McCorkle, of Crash Diet and Ferris Beach fame, and our very first assignment was to write one long sentence. My subject was about an abandoned girl. It didn’t take that long to write and I believe I misused the semi-colon at least seventy-eight times. But the words kept coming, long after the assignment was copied neatly and stapled, turned in for a grade.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m auditing a class with the venerable (now late) Doris Betts and she talked about making lists and listing our favorite things, like the Sound of Music minus Julie Andrews and a pack of children wearing clothes made out of drapes. Those moments helped me to hone in on what’s important, to communicate with precision, deliberately.

That and the gentle suggestions of the poets that I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years: (late) Lucille Clifton, Dean Young, Robert Hass to name a few, who have kept returning my focus to the stanza, to the lines that make up a stanza, to the words that make up a line, to the word. Finding the exact words. So, I’m going back to my list of words that I love, a thousand words that I love and cannot do without — but in no particular order. If I have repeated some of the words, it is pure accident.

What are the thousand words that are essential to you? Share them.

“Courtship, celestial, fiction, transparent, knead, knees, briar, brigade, boisterous, cloister, rise, flour, exempt, redeem, transient, convection, indoctrination, condolences, superb, fissure, figment, seduce, induce, conviction, vow, bliss, smitten, ultimate, decimate and disinterested, panacea, literally, chronic, less, enormity, instant, refute, astronomy, polka, periodical, spiral, translucent, solstice, Milky Way, aubade, allegory, cinnamon, blind, opaque, careless, ultraviolet, drooping, racemes, remnant, continent, lost, film, pepper, transparent, loud, comic, sweater, Versailles, sandals, swallowtail, pitch, slate, canyon, breezes, howl, trade winds, Pantheon, goddess, flowers, garland, Parthenon, oculus, Taj Mahal, crown, jewels, Nile River, clasp, upstream, Amazon, women, plaid, swallow, peppermint, pool, carpet, brook, confetti, prohibition, rehabilitation, exhaust, freckles, gases, livid, mission, promissory, abhor, migrate, hesitation, transgression, tentacles, frigid, ingredient, muffle, elapse, collapse, float, kitchen, sea, maple, sharp, vinegar, wine, heap, aquarium, breve, aviary, optimal, bracelet, aqueduct, water, buildings, ore, inequity, pretender, river, engrave, bankrupt, acrimony, glaring, ruse, mannequin, carefree, just, oracle, gin, host, laurel, ninth, absinthe, affair, fanfare, candy, quantum, festive, sapphire, atrium, pugilist, dirge, mathematics, typhoon, anagram, medicine, solace, firefly, technician, stripper, platonic, pagan, torrid, banquet, nun, ocean, cape, sanitation, drunk, table, ballad, sandals, bloodshot, florid, humid, greenhouse, unrequited, indict, guava, suit, rouge, diseased, clarinet, virginity, quilt, tart, jetty, gulf, afterlife, poppies, rank, usurp, absinthe, position, boxing, abolition, primitive, striped, elements, pomegranate, minstrel, division, marmalade, quarter, henna, chimney, hatter, opal, cabaret, plateau, conceit, herniated, croon, permeate, hypochondria, sin, farce, propitiate, detritus, license, cardinal, tambourine, vast, consumption, scepter, dragonfly, cloak, neem, grief, pell-mell, damage, mynah, silence, consummation, parsimony, jackfruit, payment, papaya, serene, obscene, arresting, break, secrecy, salvage, salvation, cities, thieves, hours, books, mustard, blue jay, renaissance, aubergine, jackal, lugubrious, moot, troupe, oppose, feast, fast, suspend, omission, Latinate, Sanskrit, juggle, pajama, lilac, intercourse, perch, orange, gold, scepter, distend, revolver, beast, lead, sliding, cash, pencil, iron, tapestry, ablation, rook, almanac, sherry, blind, perch, nuance, century, shackle, demitasse, anonymous, galaxy, recovery, mugger, anemia, queue, copper, azure, wedding, anagram, epic, luminary, amnesty, ringworm, atoll, relent, accident, tyrant, jasmine, anthropology, julep, recrimination, remorse, alchemy, erase, ream, geranium, monogamy, archaic, astronomy, monsoon, garble, collage, subscript, pedigree, geography, conjugal, buffet, asp, eucalyptus, plague, mugger, adagio, carafe, cheat, rhapsody, halcyon, balcony, mosaic, concede, arsenic, shawl, eyelet, harmonic, affliction, dime, butterfly, due, boa, collage, exploit, perfume, saliva, crescendo, agnostic, velvet, aria, gizzard, tigress, emperor, zenith, tamarind, sequin, autopsy, barometer, underground, cumulus, accusative, encyclopedia, commercial, exhibition, ancestor, growl, nimbus, buckle, costume, graphic, cheetah, taboo, enrage, irrigation, apathy, venerable, reprehensible, mortified, hibiscus, algae, egg timer, conjugate, ambulance, sanctimony, archaeology, Doric, interfere, arrest, crust, ninth, stalagmite, Galingale, cowrie, algebra, fossil, tuxedo, blacksmith, jungle, assassin, ancient, philosophy, cave, history, acid, moot, soot, pare, ambulance, bear, canoe, cargo, waitress, traffic, Tuesday, three-fifteen, satin, gala, caramel, witness, despot, ethnic, banyan, pineapple, solar, lava, palindrome, angst, blitz, noodle, highway, mobile, witness, sorcery, blizzard, steeple, angle, condiment, jujube, Mohawk, atlas, secret, ritual, virtue, toxic, bombast, confectioner, beaker, horseradish, bronze, turmeric, detective, Viking, gauntlet, crimson, asphalt, stucco, hardwood, dishtowel, slotting spoon, temple, garland, idiom, ion, rhododendron, ultimatum, vacuum, proselytize, measures, photography, arroyo, abacus, chess, lithograph, microscope, theology, arranged, unsolicited, dungaree, vodka, consumption, coda, Zen, yoga, chrysanthemum, toddy, marriage, sulfur, parchment, singed, sugar, shampoo, jute, diva, spectacle, emerald, eye-shadow, private, shadow, rain, Sunday, ichthyology, wire, taxi, argue, smoke, sepia, wistful, crumbling, prayer, naked, diseased, pantoum, mermaid, lithograph, foreign, thief, adaptation, original, abyss, ecstasy, moon, disappear, iridescent, makeshift, tattered, impale, hovering, alumni, resurrection, murder, ink, pristine, poetic, vindicated, iconoclast, game, eclipse, zygote, zodiac, kaleidoscope, hieroglyph, zither, calligraphy, dilemma, circus, monolith, nectar, sextant, ornithology, public, taxidermy, parlor, wedding, chrysalis, bangle, drab, shimmer, glimmer, scuff, sidewalk, bungalow, legal, rustic, atoll, archipelago, cash, mandarin, opal, catamaran, Portia tree, teak, betel, frugal, loose change, acetic, lupine, molasses, parity, horizon, devastate, empty, captain, pulchritude, aria, moratorium, wedding, native, nocturne, regal, ursine, incubate, currents, portage, missive, sedentary, cushy, aplomb, Icarus, charm, skyscraper, iris, insistent, sieve, heartbeat, polish, hydrant, revolve, eclipse, gravel, forgiveness, valedictorian, crows, petrol, pump, indigenous, star anise, shanty, tent, tickets, stub, porcelain, pedestrian, erudite, illegitimate, adagio, alto, home, songs, continent, lovers, lavish, peels, fatigue, rhythm, peal, cluttered, parroted, fortune cookie, linger, berth, electricity, silk, kimono, pavement, conscience, factory, gnaw, drapes, damask, truth, hunger, murderous, Medea, lust, Helen, pomegranate, Persephone, sirens, Calypso, archery, moonlit, Diana, loom, Penelope, aerie, Draupadi, insult, pendulum, husbandry, horses, breeding, spare, silver, aquamarine, afterlife, humility, genius, affront, indulgence, neat, score, knees, crossed, mustard, weave, embroider, crochet, calculus, pulley, lever, kinetic, chemical, light, ignite, strike, viaduct, rescue, wine, sauté, crush, flattery, cook, cater, rivet, flounder, compose, zither, yak, breaststroke, veins, arteries, world, collide, king, alight, pale, pragmatic, laboratory, locution, red ants, fiddle, cello, pain, piano, loaf, slice, bread, bored, absence, month, leap, rival, October, May Day, singular, sediment, sultry, earthen, air, fire, water, glacier, river-bend, mouth, modular, shoelace, power, clown, mime, ringmaster, pachyderm, herd, hyena, hysterical, ridge, groove, needle, pin-prick, poisoned, ball-gown, bested, ludicrous, keys, ivory, count, Monet, Atget, marigold, Escher, lizards, pterodactyl, rag, dishtowel, milk, nectarine, tangerine, Clementine, license, beloved, abdicate, mercy, yolk, yesterday, intelligence, year, yearn, rings, leaping, pear, ladder, tidy, tiny, tedious, catcher, pumpernickel, oboe, jazz, riff, turbulence, elegy, usury, doctoral, disparate, sanguine, celibacy, gestation, past, mark, tainted, spoiled, rose, lips, bend, covet, sestina, India, tardy, terminal, terra firma, tertiary, Everest, gorge, dig, ruins, inches, melancholy, forte, viola, recess, taxidermy, eclipse, hound, Hun, sugar, portfolio, aperture, forest, perform, bless, big-hearted, minded, median, medial, velocity, volley, rings, roses, riches, poverty, chaste, kiss, scissors, fish, siphon, canary, carbon, night, birth, anniversary, pastry, sepia, crash, diamond, opal, sapphire, clemency, affect, contagious, intransigent, mitigate, navigate, collide, cyan, knight, kinship, birdsong, hummingbird, indent, porch, primrose, propriety, trident, decorum, orphan, hellacious, rubric, clove, cardamom, subtract, weeds, dandelions, constellations, divide, cadence, retina, ritual, crust, cheek, mouth, cavity, pearly, camera, decimate, density, pungent, verdant, repudiate, impugn, meridian, standard, juried, compulsory, dispel, bearer, birthing, vermillion, devious, cocoon, republic, girl, duet, equine, feverish, salty, sour, lisp, confidential, filament, finesse, patient, applicant, repel, appellant, funicular, antecedent, incite, focal, allegro, perfume, congratulate, grieve, cohort, ignite, jocular, jovial, hurrah, pulse, expand, haste, jester, seclude, recline, rendition, compensate, dispensate, depict, labyrinth, lagoon, partisan, Partition, purdah, haveli, dungaree, accent, allergy, antidote, pacific, repatriation, la revanche, pendulum, quartz, mineral, madness, recipe, precipitation, forecast.”