The first time the Word of God is encountered in Scripture, it's in Genesis 1:3, as God speaks for creation. The Word of God is, from the beginning, portrayed as an active, creating thing. It's not something that is created, but something that causes creation.
John 1 tells us that the Word became flesh (that is, the Christ), but also that the Word itself is God. This word existed long before taking on physical flesh. John 1 continued to tells us that life is within this Word, as well as verifies the fact that the Word is a creative being.
If the Word of God existed since the beginning, it only makes sense that this Word interacted with people throughout history. In Genesis 15:1, we find that the Word of the Lord came to Abram, and also again in 12:22, we see the Word of God come to someone.
There are many more things that could be said, or studied concerning the Word of God as a being. One of the greatest misconceptions I see in modern theology, is that many get the idea that the Word always existed as Jesus. The Word did not become Jesus until Jesus was born, but rather took other forms. (Such as the angel of the Lord, etc.) Christ was the ultimate incarnation of this Word, which is eternal and always pleading our case, as Christians, to the Father.