Power of Words

Do you ever ponder the wonder of what words create? Words are powerful, carrying meaning far beyond themselves. When you string them together just right, you end up with a meaning far greater than a single words definition. How powerful are words? As powerful as the most empowered human to have ever walked.  You see, great good and great evil alike use words as their device of power.

Words spoke aloud as well as words written all carry the power to make a person feel emotion. If a writer can choose a broad yet controversial topic, he/she can cause a large number of people to feel the intended emotion.

Example:

In twenty sixteen a great victory was won in the United States. The Presidential elections were held and the nation spoke out. We elected a man who will undoubtedly change the United States for the better. Let's make America great again and support Donald J. Trump!

READ THIS: That statement was created to do one thing, it was created to evoke anger or disgust in a large portion of readers. (The statement does not reflect my personal views.) This just goes to prove that words have power. Power to make people feel what you intend for them to feel.

Maybe more impressive is the power to disconnect a reader from the physical world and plop them into the middle of an epic adventure. The power to create images within a reader's mind while they sit idly reading words on a page. 

Example:

The sky darkened as Kubota released the spear from his iron grip. It sailed into the brisk air, speeding towards an unsuspecting stag. With only an inch to travel before taking the life of the large animal, the spear froze in mid air. Kubota's muscular body tensed under his caribou parka as the world around him went silent.

The stag turned its head towards Kubota, its eyes were not the dark brown that he expected to see. Instead, the stag's eyes were human, so blue that they must have been nearly white.

"Do you fear death?"  A voice cut into Kubota's thoughts, "Yes, it is I, the stag before you that speaks into your thoughts."

Kubota tried to run but found that his body was also frozen in time. Fear gripped his heart as the stag walked towards him. The adrenaline brought the familiar taste of iron to his mouth.

"Am I to die here alone? " is the only question that echoed through Kubota's mind.

"You would have left a stag to die alone," The voice boomed into his head, "But you are afraid of dying alone yourself?"

The stag reared back on its hind legs and in the same moment became a man. The man was clothed in the skin of a grizzly bear with its head still fully attached and perched atop the shaved scalp of the strange man.  He walked around Kubota with his brilliant blue eyes and a sly smile skirting across his face.

"Today you have made a choice," The man spoke aloud this time, "You have chosen to take a life, and a life indeed will be taken."

In an instant, Kubota was standing in front of his own spear, the point pressing against the skin on his chest. Kubota told his body to move but it was still firmly gripped by the magic of the strange man.

"Please," Kubota forced the thought into his mind, "My family is hungry, that is why I choose to take a life."

The man ignored the thought that Kubota had given him. With a flash of fire in his eyes, the man waved his hand. The spear pierced Kubota's skin and he fell to the ground with an agonizing scream. Laying on his side he gripped the spear in both hands, but he was too weak to remove it from his chest.

The man in the bear skin stood over Kubota, with the same fire in his eyes he forced the spear all the way through Kubota's body without touching it. Kubota screamed out in pain as the man leaned down to speak into his ear.

"Never forget the pain you cause as you take a life." The man growled into Kubota's ear.

As fast as time had become frozen, everything returned to normal. Kubota was left standing over a bleeding stag. His eyes filled with tears, because in that moment he knew its pain.

Earth to reader: Okay, I think you get the point of being transported to another place by the power of words. That type of power can even be used to subconsciously push an agenda. For instance, in that short blurb, there was a lean towards animal rights type thinking. At least a hint of caring for what an aminal is feeling. Imagine the type of agenda's a person could push in a full-length novel. Sure, for most of us, we recognize these agendas. We read and catch the writer's perspective of life. Sometimes we agree or disagree, but still, if the story is captivating enough it can start to sway a person's deepest moral convictions, it is the power of words to influence another human.

Perhaps the most powerful use of words is persuasion. This is a gift even some of the best writers in the world do not possess. It is a gift that motivational speakers use to motivate people. It is the gift that evil person's such as Hitler can use to destroy many people.

See words, spoken or written, can have an immense effect on people. Poorly written or spoken words may have an ill effect on the one who uses them. The opposite is true for a person who speaks and/or writes words with great skill. They can use words to obtain power, change lives, and ultimately achieve anything they desire. The only catch is that you must first learn to master words better than the ones you intend to influence.

"Words are power, use them masterfully and choose them carefully." -J.E.Hixon