On the meaning of words

This post has been inspired by my reading the post: 'Thinking carefully about the power of words' in Annie Wicking's Blog: 'Every New Writer's Journey'. I tried a couple of times to post a comment there but kept getting a a delivery status notification failure, so I decided to post my thoughts on the subject here.

As writers I can't see how we could forget how powerful words can be; that very thing is the crux of our craft. To create a scene, to convey an emotion, to communicate a thought, we manipulate and choose the words and phrases we believe can best do the job. Amazed, surprised, astonished, flabbergasted, and shocked all have similar meanings it's true, but each expands that meaning in a slightly different direction. Amazed, I think, suggests a somewhat more pleasant experience compared to flabbergasted or shocked. And in the above sentence I used 'I think', to qualify what I had just said as a personal opinion, rather than a fact. I could have used 'I believe', but somehow that seemed to carry more weight for me than I wished to imply (beliefs being something that people hold close and dear), and I rejected using 'I suspect' because it suggested that I hadn't yet given it enough thought to commit to an opinion, either way.

I come away from reading Annie's post with a question of my own, and that is, does each word actually have a specific fixed meaning, or is it left merely to individual interpretation? If the latter is so, then how can anyone possibly account for that in their writing? If you know your craft well enough to distinguish the differing nuances of amazed and shocked, I say, trust in your ability, and never let a single word flow from you without your conscious approval.

And Annie, if you are reading this, and since you offered, I'd like a cappuccino with one percent milk with a sweetener, please! :)