On choosing a word

Plants look different today. Refreshed and greener than green. Long waited rain at last!!!
The typhoon is forecasted to head north for Shikoku for a while and then take a sudden right turn to go along the Tokai coast line, coming closer to Tokyo. A slow typhoon tends to take a strange course. I've never seen a right angle turn like this. Anyway it is supposed to bring more rain.

As I write about the typhoon, I got aware that I always try to choose a better word to describe a situation. I chose the word
"head" for 「台風が進む」
but it could be "make its way", "go on", "go forward", "march", "continue on", "go ahead", "take its course", "move (on, forward)", "advance" ... How did I chose "head"? I don't know. It just sounded right to me. "Head" is simple and well conveys the feeling of the Japanese word「向かう」.
Such expression as "make its way" is very convenient. Only by changing verbs and you can express a subtle change in the meaning. When you say "hack its way" you imply it advances destroying buildings, dykes, infrastructures or other.
Likewise "take a right turn"(右へ曲がる) is handy since you can put adjective before "turn" to make such expression as "take a quick turn" to add some nuance to the words. On the same note, "take a look at" instead of just "look at" is ready to be modified by adding a word such as "brief", "closer", "detailed", "careful", "unique",....according to what you mean. ("take a unique look at" is different from the others, by the way. ユニークな見方をする) I feel the expression "I took a quick look at it." is preferred to "I looked at it quickly."
Whichever word you choose, avoid using the same word or expression again and again in the same article, or it would sound redundant, childish and unintelligent.
Reading is important because through extensive reading, you will know which word is more suitable than others to describe a situation. Writing is also very important because, through the experience of choosing better expression, you will be more conscious about how the words are used in books. So the bottom line is that you have to be exposed to English as much as you can but you also have to keep in mind a well balanced study of reading and writing(speaking).