Word Play

One thing I have learned through writing is that writers are manipulators of words. The act of writing is one big word game. I know it is common to come up with inventive ways of saying blasé phrases. I like to toy with less common words but try to avoid words people don't readily know when reading? Who wants to read a book with their dictionary handy?

So let's talk specifically about a particular kind of word play. Word Usage. Maybe it is from the years of useless SAT vocabulary drilled into my head for four years of high school or simply because I read way too much compared to the average person, but words sporadically come to me. Does this happen to anyone else?

 Let me give you an example of what I mean to clarify my point; I could be typing out a scene and going on about something and then i go she is depressed what word is better than depressed? Despondent. Within seconds, the word pops into my head, no thesaurus necessary. Ironically, I am always leery about these words and as soon as i write them. I look up the definition. Nine times out of ten the word is usually spot on. Freaky, right?

Does this happen to everyone? Or am I suffering from some form of PTSD from the SATs (I took them almost 10 years ago)?