Scrabbled

I recently bought a Scrabble game for my computer. Why? Well, two reasons. One--to stimulate my gray cells. I firmly believe we lose what we don't use. Every morning with my coffee, I play a couple games against the computer. Some mornings I do better than others, but it's definitely a super waker-upper.

Reason two--to expand my vocabulary. The computer uses the STRANGEST words. I keep a running list of the ones I don't know and afterward, sometime during the day, I look them up in the dictionary. I'm particularly interested in the words using Q (without a U), X, and Z.

After several days of playing, I've acquired an interesting list of two letter words--some with no vowels--and words that contain the aforementioned letters. And I've discovered it's not just what words you know, but where you place them that counts. I'm sure I was aware of that point before but somewhere along the line I didn't quite grasp the importance of placing a letter where it will count for points in more than one direction.

In playing the game, it's dawned on me I'm failing to use the Scrabble principles in my writing.

1) Some actions are more important than others, though all actions should be worth some points.

2) Some actions will render consequences in more than one direction.

3) Some events may have the potential for further expansion.

4) Sometimes ignorance or failure to see future potential will allow the opponent to win.

5) Ignorance and failure to prepare can kill you.

6) If all else fails, QI or XI can save you...maybe. It's always good to have a secret weapon up your sleeve.

anny