One of the greatest joys of any type of writing is finding the just right word.

But it can also suck.

Words aren’t freestanding. They don’t exist in a vacuum. So when I find just the right word, I’m not just using that word. I’m also taking on the weight of that word and all its previous usages.

As I work on the introduction to my dissertation, I was looking for a word to act as a balance for nostalgia. It came to me, as I was making a concept map, that pragmatism would work well in my theoretical framework.

Self-satisfaction flooded my being. It’s the perfect word.

Yet, now, I have to take into account the entire weight of that word.

Hmmm. Should be interesting.