Most of us, as amateur writers, tend to be a little indiscriminating in word choice, thinking the red color is just “ red ” , a machine makes just “ a noise ” , and a suface is either “ hard ” or “ soft ” . But examine the possibilities and list as many words as possible for each item. red: rose, pink, ... noise: clank, boom, ... see: glance, stare, ... surface: dense, velvety, ...