Are you excited about NaNoWriMo? November is the official National Novel Writing Month and many aspiring writers have dusted off their vintage typewriters or opened up their cutting-edge notebooks to celebrate NaNoWriMo with their stories and creative essays. eReflect and Ultimate Vocabulary™ want to honor and help aspiring writers in their creative efforts, and share 5 words that every self-respecting writer really should know. (H/T Huffington Post)

Hypergraphia

This word describes an overwhelming, almost impossible-to-overcome urge to write. While it seems like this is something every writer hopes to develop, hypergraphia also pertains to a mental disorder where the sufferer is compelled to write because of changes in their temporal lobe, something that can be cause by epilepsy or hormonal changes.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia refers to a transcription disability that leads an inability to write, even if the person truly wants to. People affected by dysgraphia essentially have a learning disability that prevents them from writing legibly and coherently. Impaired writing often coincides with other learning disabilities; some of the more common ones are attention deficit disorder and speech impairment.

Cacoethes scribendi

This Latin phrases refers to an itch to write that is so bad that it’s actually harmful to your health, a sort of hyper-hypergraphia. “Cacoethes” means a bad habit or malignant trend, or a condition that progressively worsens. In this uncomfortable situation, writing is considered a compulsion, or even a disease. And there’s no cure for it, other than more writing!

Griffonage

This word is one you might use to describe the average doctor’s handwriting. In other words, it’s writing that’s completely illegible. Any handwritten scribble you can’t make out is a griffonage. Remember, using your vintage Remington typewriter instead of pen and paper should eliminate such incidents altogether during your NaNoWriMo spree!

Mogigraphia

This is what any prolific writer gets from time to time. Mogigraphia is what’s referred to as writer’s cramps, the burning itch in wrist and fingers caused by incessant writing. Scrivener’s palsy is another word for mogigraphia. The spasms or pain felt in the hand due to excessive and prolonged fine motor activity generally comes from the cramped position of the hand holding a pen or pencil, but typists are also prone to similar muscle woes.

There you go! You’ve had a meta taste of words relating to writing, writers, and their woes. Whether you have an insatiable itch to write, or have already succumbed to the dreaded writer’s block, why not take a break from your writing efforts. But make it time well spent, by reviewing other lesser-known but immensely entertaining English vocabulary words!

Every scriputirent (a person passionate about writing) out there deserves to know about these words. Will you be experiencing, writing about, or using these words in your stories, now that you know of their existence?

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