Thesaurisizing

My younger brother was writing a descriptive paragraph for his Composition homework today.  (Sad to say, my class doesn't get into descriptive essays until next semester...the injustice.  xD)  Next to him, he had opened a Thesaurus to help him add more impressiveness to his words.
That, and an invitation for aid in editing extended to Josh and myself, resulted in a discussion on Thesaurisizing, a buzzword that has now come to mean, "to overuse and/or misuse the Thesaurus."

What that looks like is this:

Normal - "Here, most authors would recommend adding additional information in a persuasive paper."
Thesaurisized - "Now, by all technicalities, it is the opine of many grammarians to presently attach “ancillary intelligence” in such a cogent theme."

Normal - "But I don't have any additional information."
Thesaurisized - "However, I retain nil of such."

Normal - "So instead, I'll say this: I hope my grand voice and vocabulary have persuaded you to let me get a Facebook account."
Thesaurisized - "As an alternative, I shall record this: I hope my vapid, affrighteningly-long parlance in this pleonastic paper have procured sanction of visitation to aforementioned social networks, which have been falsely claimed "detrimental".

See what I mean?  A Thesaurus could be your best friend as an author, but without knowing proper word usage, you're going to sound like a living library.  No one wants to hear a living library.

So then presents the question, "When do I use the Thesaurus?"

FOR BEGINNING WRITERS:
I'd recommend using a Thesaurus all the time.  Permanently take the words "good", "bad", "interesting", "amazing", "cool", "evil", "scared", and "sad" out of your writing and replace them with better, more specific words.  Obviously and unfortunately, this replacement of mediocre words for glitzy vocab means you're going to be using "glitter" when you should have used "sheen" and "scholarship" when you should have used "wisdom".  Those are some small nuances of English that you'll have to deal with for right now.
On the other hand, what you gain is a lot of word experience.  You're expanding your vocabulary, and you'll begin to notice how certain words are used in day-to-day conversations.  You might also notice that words like "pleonastic" and "affrighteningly" are not used AT ALL in day-to-day conversations; those are the words that you know are a bit too nerdy.

FOR INTERMEDIATE WRITERS:
I'd recommend using the Thesaurus along with a dictionary.  If you look up a word in the Thesaurus (like grandeur) and come across another word (like pomp) but aren't sure exactly what the second word means, look it up.  Generally, there will be a small difference between the dictionary definitions, and you can then utilize such small variations to your heart's content.  (Grandeur is grandness in appearance or style; pomp is grandness in ceremony or display.  You're welcome.)
Better yet, do you have one of those new-fangled dictionary apps that have sample sentences in them?  Those are the absolute best because then you don't have to wait for your word to pop up in daily usage; you just read the sentence and see for yourself.
(I use the dictionary app that comes with every Mac computer - the New Oxford American Dictionary - along with the Mac's built-in thesaurus app - Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, and I particularly like the second because of the author-written notes on word variations and contrasts.)

A screen shot of the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus

FOR EXPERIENCED WRITERS:
What...?  Thesaurus?  What is that?  OH!  You mean that old clunky book I used to aid my writing eons ago!
Hah!

Write on!
Clove
P.S. For those of you who noticed it and know about it, yes, the example of Normal versus Thesaurisized sentences above does pertain to my getting a Facebook.
The last paragraph in the essay looks like this:
"My motives for desiring social media have been made known here--fellowship, evangelism, and closer relationships.  Now, by all technicalities, it is the opine of many grammarians to presently attach “ancillary intelligence” in such a cogent theme.  However, I retain nil of such.  As an alternative, I shall record this: I hope my vapid, affrighteningly-long parlance in this pleonastic paper have procured sanction of visitation to aforementioned, falsely-claimed “detrimental” social networks.  In other words, did I “convince” you?"
Heeheehee, the paper is still in waiting to be accepted by my pater and mater.  Muahahaha...