What is an acronym?When someone asks, "What is an acronym," my mind becomes consumed with images of acronyms. LOL, CUL8R, WWJD, TPTB. If you're wondering what each of those means, you're probably not alone (Laugh Out Loud, See You Later, What Would Jesus Do?, The Powers That Be). Click for Free Writer's Block Help E-Zine and Free E-Book An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. Acronyms have become the focus of many young people as well as adults nowadays since text messaging has been on the rise. Those that are curious and ask 'what is an acronym?' are obviously not hip to all of the lingo used by the masses to communicate with one another. Writing abbreviations can help your writing become more versatile. They can be used much like slang terms. If the audience that you are writing for knows and understands the language that you are using, you can write in such a way that acronyms, abbreviations, initials, and the like are relevant and endearing to your readers. Acronyms can also be used to consider new ways of writing the longer forms of words and phrases. For example, when talking about the National Football League, you are more likely to call it the NFL. It is the more accepted version. People hear it and use it far more often than they spell out the three words that make up the acronym. A fun activity to try out in writing abbreviations or acronyms is to make acronyms stand for words and phrases other than what they are truly meant to stand for. There are some acronyms that you may not have even realized were acronyms. Some examples include: SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus You see the above acronyms all the time, but you never really stop to wonder if they really stand for anything. The reason for that is because we know what they mean for our purposes. When we see the word 'scuba,' we automatically think of diving equipment. When we see the word 'laser,' we think of laser light shows, or the like. When we see 'HTTP,' we generally just think about it as the first four letters of a web address. There are many more acronyms like these that have become so widespread and commonplace in our lives and within the context of pop culture. We have come to understand their meanings. Their influence is so profound that we hardly ever take the time to consider that the words had to come from somewhere. There has to be a reason why the letters were formed in such a way that the word reads like so. What is an acronym that you can use in your writing to escape the grips of writer's block that may be holding on to you? There are many ways to get your writing started using abbreviation writing and shorthand writing. If you have ever taken notes while sitting in a class, in a meeting, or somewhere else, you know that sometimes you just do not have enough time to write out every single word in its entirety. So, you start to abbreviate. You think to yourself, "What is an acronym that I can use to make this writing process faster?" That's all well and good for taking notes, but you also want to use acronyms to promote the creative writing process and ensure that you have more to talk about than how you rolled on the floor laughing out loud (ROTFLOL) about something. Check out an acronym finder to see what other acronyms you didn't know that you knew, or even some that you didn't know at all. Consider different words that can take the place of the ones that really make up the acronym. The site gives you some other choices of meaning that the letters can take on, but try to come up with your own as well. Make serious changes or silly ones. Hone your choice of what acronyms mean to fit the writing style that is perfect for your intended audience. If writing for children, make that clear through what you choose for your acronyms to mean. If writing for adults, change the meanings to fit that demographic. For example, instead of 'WWW' meaning 'World Wide Web' or 'What Women Want,' make it mean 'Weird, Wacky, and Wonderful' and write a short story or poem about a person who encompasses all of these winsome qualities. Free association is a great method to use when trying to figure out what is an acronym that works for your purposes. Think of the first words that come to mind when you put a letter in your head, and try to make the words you come up with fit together until you have an interesting sounding acronym phrase. For example, if you take the acronym 'NEA,' which stands for 'National Education Association,' amongst other things, you can make a list like so: N = Niagara, Novel, Nurse, Nancy, Nerve Now, take the words you've come up with using free association and mix and match them until you come up with an interesting take on what 'NEA' can stand for other than those phrases which you already know. From the words above, you might come up with 'Niagara Extra Army,' or 'Novel Extra Alibi'. You can then begin writing a story about the war that Niagara Falls, New York had with Niagara Falls, Canada over just who the falls really belonged to, and so an extra army had to be brought in to quell the situation. For 'novel extra alibi,' you might write a murder mystery in which someone has come up with an intriguing, off-the-cuff, novel idea for an extra alibi that will keep them safe from going to jail. Did they really commit the crime? It's up to you to decide just where the story goes. Using these ideas and coming up with new and interesting ways to see and read acronyms is less complex than it seems. Just be creative. Be unique. Relate to your readers using terminology and phrasing that they will know and appreciate. Think outside the box and realize all the different options that will open up to you when you make up your own acronyms!
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