Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
We hear time and time again that great writing overcomes all sorts of handicaps–minor social media involvement,being unagented, trying how to wedge into a tight market. While writing well isn’t a panacea for those disabilities, it certainly can take a writer a long way down the publishing road. Today let’s look at one aspect of fine writing: vocabulary.
First let’s take a little test. It’s easy because it’s fill-in-the-blank, and no “right” answers exist.
- As the woman approached the traffic light, she stepped on the gas and drove ___(adverb)_____________.
- The breeze ______(verb)_____ the air.
- Her _____(adjective)______ brown hair ____(verb)_____ down her back.
For the first sentence, my impulse was to insert “with alacrity.” That’s kind of unusual, wouldn’t you say? But here’s the saddest part of my response: I want to apologize for it. That phrase seems kind of high falutin’. I want to change my answer to something more commonplace. But I’ve always loved words, and sometimes fancy terms just pop out, quite unbidden.
Here’s my second thought, which is even sadder than my initial embarrassment: I can’t recall the last time I learned a new word. I used to buy flip calendars that offered a new word every day of the year. Then I tried to use that word in a sentence that day. I also would write down words I didn’t know as I read through a book and then look up the word and re-read the paragraph I had found it in.
I haven’t lost interest in expanding my vocabulary, but somewhere along the way I’ve stopped intentionally working on it. And I don’t know when I last found myself reading along and being stopped by a word I wasn’t acquainted with. I don’t think that’s the case because I know tons of words but rather because writers aren’t expanding their vocabularies and therefore they aren’t expanding mine.
Looking back at the words you used on the test, are they ordinary, run-of-the-mill words? or words that create a tone or image that might cause a reader to pause? are they evocative or common?
If you haven’t befriended a word, it won’t just show up when you’re crafting your manuscript. I confess I’ve grown lazy and have developed the habit of clicking on “thesaurus” with my mouse when I’m searching for the best word. I consider that a pretty pathetic way to write because the number of words offered is minimal and often don’t convey the intent I had in mind. And if we start out with a small vocabulary, a thesaurus, even a good one, simply aids us in employing a word that might not have the correct nuance.
Should you mentally be arguing with me over the power of a strong vocabulary, let me show you an instance in which choosing the right words makes all the difference between ho-hum and oh-my. Once you’re published, you’ll be asked to write endorsements. The more recognizable your name becomes, the more endorsements you have the opportunity to write.
Often endorsements sound almost glib. Think about the words we usually see in them: informative, helpful, enjoyable, a must-read, I couldn’t put it down. I’m sure you could add others.
But an endorsement can serve the endorser as well as the endorsee. A finely-crafted endorsement can make the reader want to read the endorser’s book. Here’s one that did just that for me:
“Lori Benton gives us seasons in her debut novel Burning Sky. Seasons of planting corn, beans and pumpkins as backdrops to the ripening and challenges of lives working through chaos after a war and a terrible personal tragedy. The author gives us seasons of the journey through loss, risk, family and love. The author’s voice is mesmerizing with evocative phrases like ‘The air inside the cabin swirled with stale memories, echoes of once familiar voices trapped within, awaiting her coming to free them.’ Set on a frontier homestead in New York in 1784, we meet distinctive characters I came quickly to care about. And the promises of the opening poetic question of Burning Sky/Willa ‘Will the land remember’ is answered with passion and grace and the satisfaction of a good harvest. Enjoy this wonderful novel.”
—Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of One Glorious Ambition
Obviously Jane not only read Lori’s book, but Jane also loved it. Yet she didn’t dash down the first thought that occurred to her; rather than gushing, she introduced us to what she found lush about the book. Her carefully crafted endorsement fills me with longing to read both Lori’s and Jane’s work.
Do you work at increasing your vocabulary? If so, how?
In what ways would a vaster vocabulary enrich your writing?
Might a better vocabulary hinder your writing in some ways?
For fun, share the words you used in the test.
TWEEETABLES
Do writers make their books lackluster with the words they use? Click to tweet.
Does your vocabulary keep your writing from being topnotch? Click to tweet.
Why vocabulary could be the most important tool to add to your writing kit. Click to tweet.
This is a great reminder. When I edit I usually have the thesaurus.com tab open on my computer. It’s amazing how one word can change everything.
Dear Authors: A recent documentary on Agatha Christie explained she did not try to wow her readers with complex or learn a word a day words. She wanted her writing to flow into your brain (often tired brain…) with ease. Complex words should never be a replacement for clever writing and poignant writing.
A reader needs to flow right into a story with out a dictionary at their side. Many readers unwind late at night from what ever their hectic day may be.
They want ESCAPE, ENJOYMENT and a WONDERFUL STORY. Learning new words is, of course, a great goal, but force feeding them into your novels is one way to slow down readers not impress them.
Keep this in mind and remember that words are wonderful but don’t let them get in the way of your story.
Jacqueline Gillam Fairchild
Her Majesty’s English Tea Room at Fairchild’s Facebook
drove madly
stirred the air
glossy hair trailed
I LOVE words–learning them, looking them up, using new ones. I try to work “penultimate” in whenever I can.
But I’m torn here. While I like the idea of enriching the reader’s experience by introducing new words–I’m not sure that’s what the reader wants. If I’m reading an historic romance, I might like to learn a word or two that were specific to that era. But I probably don’t want a “high falutin'” word that I have to stop and look up.
Is the average reader going to appreciate running into interesting, perhaps unfamiliar words? Or do they just want common words used really well? Fodder for an interesting discussion!
Yes, Sarah, it is a conundrum. (Oooo…. :)) I love learning new words and reading them in novels. But the current advice seems to be to use more common words so that you don’t draw the reader out of the story. I completely understand that. But I’m stymied. 🙂 Can I just throw one in every now and then?
That is the crux of the dilemma–when and how to use those great words. I think you can, when writing a novel, by including an erudite character in the mix. That person would naturally use the 50 cent word. But,as the narrator, you must be careful not to break the story’s dream by suddenly inserting an obscure but wonderful word into the mix. Nonfiction writers are free to use whatsoever words naturally occur to them.
Sarah, words excite me as well. I can have fun just sitting reading a dictionary. You are right, though. You have to think about whether or not the vocabulary you use in your novel will enhance the writing or will make the reader stop, taking the reader out of the story. At times, I have to make myself use an ordinary word or phrase when I’d rather use something fancier. But it’s like seasoning, isn’t it? Using too little produces a bland flavor, but using too much can make food inedible. The art is in using just the right amount.
Christine, I also read the dictionary and highlight words that I find scintillating. 🙂
I love that you used ‘high falutin’. Someone really snobby would have said “elevated faluting”.
🙂
Janet, when I was in college, I would underline every new word I learned in my red collegiate dictionary. My goal was to have the entire dictionary underlined, but I’m still working on that. Like you, I haven’t underlined much recently. I think that’s why I like the classics so much.
Perhaps the challenge is even more difficult than simply increasing vocabulary, though. Our challenge is to use words that most people already know, even if they don’t use them much, in a way that makes them think or experience life in a new way. That incredible endorsement is a perfect example.
Thanks for the great post. It’s exciting to start a Monday with a discussion of words!
I think we shouldn’t be afraid to stretch our readers’ vocabulary a bit. Most readers won’t bother stopping to ponder the new word, but the context would give them the basics of what it means. Some will look up the word, and I love that.
Stopping to scour the dictionary is fun. If the author introduced me to something new through the words they used then I want to read more of what they’ve written.
Janet, what a great post. I love words too, but I haven’t been purposeful in using words. One of my favorites is azure. 🙂 Brandilyn Collins posts words and definitions and challenges people to use them in a sentence. Often, I don’t take the time to accept the challenge. Maybe I need to.
I think having a vast vocabulary gives a writer more words at her disposal to choose from to convey the nuance of what she wants the reader to feel or understand.
I like trying out unusual words, but if I get a “Huh?” look from my crit partners or my beta reader, then I know I either didn’t use it well, or it was tooooo unusual. 🙂
Thanks for making me think about this today.
You’re welcome, Jeanne. And take Brandilyn’s challenge.:-)
From journalism classes when dinosaurs roamed the earth, one of my greatest memories is this phrase: ensure every word earns its right to be on the page. (Of course, we had PAGES then. And Underwoods, too.)
I think the secret to credible vocabulary is to match the character’s education and experience to their words—and the narrator’s as well. I write about highly educated individuals, so evolved vocabularies are natural for them. However, I did a field test on twenty-something snowboarders Friday, and their vocabulary was…different. So different, in fact, I’m blogging about it this week, comparing twenty-something dudes with octogenarian theologians.
In fly-fishing, we call the process “match the hatch.” My vocabulary has to match my characters’ “hatch,” so to speak.
Indeed! Far too many books are bland; all the characters’ dialogue reads like tawdry gossip overheard at the grocery store.
Somehow, even characters from different backgrounds, and sometimes even different countries, all have similar linguistic traits, seemingly derived from the native mother-language found in daytime soap-operas.
Norma, you’re so right that a novelist must match the character with the character’s vocabulary. Educated people will tend to have a broader vocabulary, a twentysomething will have a different vocabulary than a fiftysomething, and someone for whom English is a second language will speak differently than a native-born person. It’s all part of the challenge of being a novelist!
And what an invigorating challenge it is, Janet! Keeps my little gray cells firing…
drove frantically
breeze swirled the air
wavy brown hair rippled down her back
I love learning new words, Janet, but I am extremely cautious to use them in my writing. I don’t want to misconstrue them. 🙂
Editors will hopefully save us from misconstruing.
I hope so too, but I need to do my part as the author to use them right the first time. 😉
Great post today, Janet. It really made me think about my intentionality when using words. I’m guilty of thesaurus hopping as well…
Welcome to the Thesaurus Anonymous Club.
I have The Synonym Finder beside my laptop, and use Webster’s online regularly.
I have thesaurus.com bookmarked on my laptop.I find it helpful when I know there might be a more fluid word than what I’m thinking.
And did you know if you had “he” next to the triple word square in Scrabble, and put down a ‘t’ in front of it, and then ‘saurus’ across the top, you’d have a triple triple word score, PLUS 50 points for using all your letters?
Yup. THAT was of the top of my empty head.
Jennifer, if I only were playing Scrabble nowadays I would memorize this jazzy move.
I haven’t played in almost 2 years. But….Janet? You ,me, ACFW, and my travel Scrabble. I’ll bring the cheesecake. You bring the dictionary. One game, just for the thrill of playing.
When it comes to most things “typical writer,” I again land somewhere in left field. I only completed reading four novels by high school graduation (none of which were classic and two were Love Inspired length) and I only added one book to that by the end of college where I managed to get around even taking a literature class. Knowing this, you can probably guess that vocabulary was not a best friend of mine. If I came to an unknown word, skip it. I know that’s bad but I was interested in what was happening in the story and not her hat and whatever that word was saying about it.
Now as I began to fall in love with novels in grad-school and married a word wonder of a husband, it began to change. I still didn’t look words up but I began to learn a lot from context. Now I find myself surprising my husband in our conversations.
You can guess that my writing uses mostly common speech. I want it to be descriptive but I also want it to flow smoothly for the reader so they can forget they are even reading as the story unfolds before them. Perhaps that is why I have found contemporary romance a good fit. Contemporary speech for contemporary characters.
Now as a writer, I try to not skip over words as I read. Which is why I love the build in dictionary to my iPhone. Tap the word- instant definition. It’s my new best friend.
Tari, thanks for sharing the birth of your love of words with us. It sounds as though you’ve found just the right genre to fit what you’re comfortable in writing.
I admit I do use a thesaurus when I write, but it’s usually when I know I know the word, and it’s on the tip of my tongue but my brain just won’t go there. So I pull up the thesaurus to the next closest word I can find until it leads me to that word. But it satisfies me to no end when I find it.
Heather, asking the thesaurus to help you find the word you can’t quite recall is very different from hunting through the thesaurus in hopes of coming across a newfangled way of saying something. The first is about a memory lapse; the second asks a book to supply the vocabulary you lack.
“like a paranoid mad woman”(<<< reality based literature)
"floated in waves through the air"
"curly RED hair poured spirals down her back"
Sorry, but I felt the sentence needed to speak to my life in a realistic manner. 😉 Which is silliness because my hair resembles a brillo pad on a humid jungle day.
Okay, this might sound lamer than a 2 legged chair, but I like playing word games. To play Scrabble well, one needs to know alot of words. Silly? Maybe? But it's actually a fun way to expand one's vocabulary.
Commence bragging…my highest score in Scrabble was 523. Against the 'advanced' setting on the computer. Five 7 letter words, and a few triple word scores. Cue nerds cheering…toss the flowers…reign cash and debit cards…bow and scrape…it's all good.
A great vocabulary is extremely important, but one needs to remember in a period novel, not everyone speaks in the same manner. One of my characters is highly educated and sounds like it, his brother has the same level of education, but is less refined. Same house, different mouse. I wrote their dialogue as I heard it;their voices were unique but similar.
Context and place determine word usage. You can't use certain words beyond the time of their entrance into the vernacular. You wouldn't say "David's rock shot with the velocity of a fuel injected rocket into Goliath's forehead", although it does sound epic, it doesn't fit.
Jennifer, I used to be a Scrabble addict. Even if I won the game but didn’t achieve a score I considered minimally acceptable, I was depressed. (Minimum score: 500.) My husband quit playing Scrabble with me after awhile. Sigh.
Scrabble is a fun way to increase your vocabulary, but how many times might “ai” (three-toed sloth)fit into a novel?
Ai? Well played!!
And ‘used to be’? Me too. I had to quit. I was spending WAY too long playing. And when you hear yourself say “I bet I could fit a game in before work!” It’s time for an intervention. My big brother and I spent 4 days doing nothing but talking and playing Scrabble. I beat him 13 games to 3.
I bet ais enjoy ripe acais and some fermented dulce.
Ha! Love the Scrabble-inspired sentence, Jennifer.
Shoot. My baby brother who never bothered much with vocabulary kicks my hiney in Scrabble because he knows all the sneaky 2 and 3-letter words. I quite playing with him because it got too embarrassing!
Sarah, you can Google “two letter words for Scrabble” and print it off.
What?
I’ve only *heard* about this….
Also, you can go onto the online Scrabble game (pogo.com is one site that has it) and pull up the list. I’m another Scrabble addict and, like Jennifer and Janet, get disappointed, sad–okay, really peeved with myself–when I get what I consider a lousy score.
The problem that I’ve run into is that the online game has certain two-letter words that are not on the old (i.e. 50th anniversary) version of the game, so my sister and brother-in-law won’t accept them.
My sister has dramatically improved her score by sitting with the Official Scrabble Dictionary and learning long, unusual words. It’s humorous watching her and my brother-in-law play (he’s a fanatic, even worse than me). My sister will play one of her newly-learned words and he will challenge her with “What does that mean?” She will respond, “I don’t know but it’s in the dictionary.” She’s not a word person, so she doesn’t care what they mean. He, on the other hand, is a word person and instantly has to find out what the word means.
Christine, I so relate to your brother-in-law. Don’t introduce me to a new word if you can’t introduce me to its meaning!
I was umm, almost continuously on pogo.com…but it’s like Pandora’s Box, if I go back and open it??? While travelling to Bolivia, we’d play a lot of Scrabble to pass the time in airports. I once played the word ‘yin’ and my opponent refused, it wasn’t one she’d heard. Well, when the game was over, we walked past a sign that had ‘yin’ on it and I think the whole airport could hear me yell “HA!!”.
I love Scrabble. 🙂 I’m trying to get my kiddos good enough that we can really challenge each other. We play the board and tile version. I like Scattergories too. 🙂
Love Kirkpatrick’s endorsement. It does make me want to read Lori Benton’s novel.
As both a writer and a reader, I love words, sometimes too much. I read dictionaries for fun, weather permitting. Especially Webster’s 1828 edition. Uh, chalk it up to… Historical research 🙂
I agree with you, Janet, about a writer’s need to have a strong vocabulary. Voracious readers must be respected, and they — speaking for myself as an avid reader — expect their favorite authors to use the most appropriate words on every page, not to talk down to their readers, and yet not to treat them as if they can’t read past texting. Ah, striking the balance. The writer in me loves that challenge.
Jan, we should get together and read a dictionary some time. 🙂
Sounds delightful — especially with cups of tea (it’s a long book) 🙂
I’m so glad to discover that I’m normal–at least among this group of people. 🙂 (I like reading dictionaries for fun too. Encyclopedias make for enjoyable reading as well.)
Christine, come along! Bring your encyclopedias 🙂
Jan, I love it that you read the old dictionary! One of my recent purchases at the antique store was a Dictionary of Early English–for historical research and accuracy. 🙂
Janet, thank you for this thought provoking article. Definitely makes a writer think.
I love Jane’s endorsement and agree, agree, agree! Lori’s book is one writer’s dream of creating.
Now, to your word challenge — I have to consider the scene. To just fill in the blanks of nothingness just doesn’t make sense to me. So I created a scene in my mind first.
That woman drove “brazenly” through that light.
And the breeze “startled” the air.
And the poor soul had “soggy” hair that “limped” down her back.
I love this word challenge. Do you have a site that puts these up regularly for those of us who need to work on our vocabulary and get our human computers working more efficiently?
Bonnie, I love the way you “owned” the vocabulary test and went for the surprise of the soggy hair.
I don’t know of a site that could help to increase our vocabulary. But if anyone else does, please let us know. We could all speak the same “love language” to each other as we slung our new words around.
That would be great fun!
I adore words. I collect them and turn them over and over, like jewels. When I learn a new one, it’s like discovering treasure. Years ago I was informed by a date that I used “too many big words.” Needless to say, that first date became the last!
Jenny, good decision regarding that date! I’m with you in treasuring new words; they feel like gems that I want to admire and say over and over.
All I could think about reading the first half of your post today, Janet, was the pompous proprensity of Stephen R. Donaldson to engage with vociferous verbosity, his readers who in turn seek to reify his vaugely vouge vindictiveness into a roborant, leaving them to be naught more than raving tintinnabulations of madness and woe.
Still not sure if I really translated the….particular “style” he uses. Read some excerpts from your favorite e-reader book retailer, or from his website, to get a better idea. 🙂
Larry, okay, confession time. I love Stephen R. Donaldson’s writing. Imagine my shock when I suggested others read his work and they came to me with pretty much a one word review, “Ew!” Obviously, his style isn’t for everyone.
“Ew?”
Heckfire and tarnation for those fools!, to paraphrase Covenant a bit. 🙂
I really do enjoy his “Covenant” series (except for the latest one)….I recall he said it was the last one he was to write in that particular “universe”, so it’s nice he is exploring a lot of the lore and backstories of the Land and its people that fans have been asking for since the first Chronicles, though he could have REALLY used a strong editor to make sure it fit a bit more cohesively with the overall narrative of the latest series (and maybe to help him come up with a better way to tell the story than literally just introducing dozens of characters who serve simply as deus ex machina).
Though my complaint about his writing is that when he simply uses a particular word incorrectly, the often obscure nature of the word used makes it stand out all the more strongly, like the forced laughter of Giants, ringing hollow and untrue….
Larry, you’ve obviously stayed much more current on Donaldson than I have. The lack of an editor is a common, major problem nowadays in publishing. Woe is we.
I write historical novels, and I also read them. Because of that, I often use “old fashioned” vocabulary in my every day speech–and I get some interesting looks because of it! I love using a word that isn’t common. I’m often amazed at some of the words that flow from the tips of my fingers when I’m writing. I love reading on my Kindle, because when there is a word I don’t know, I can look it up immediately! Thanks for the reminder to keep increasing our vocabulary.
Gabrielle, see, that’s the part of being a novelist “ordinary” folks don’t get…it makes complete sense that you should speak using old-fashioned words.
Capital!
I’m with you, I love words. But I find when I put some of those fancy words in my novels, they sound contrived, so I tend to stick with everyday words. However, I just finished reading John MacDonald’s The Deep Blue Good-by, and there were a number of words I either didn’t know at all or didn’t know well-enough to use. I was so glad to be reading it on my Kindle, so I could scroll to the word and learn the definition. And somehow, when he used words like “diaphanous,” it sounded perfectly normal.
That’s the trick, Robin, figuring out how MacDonald managed to make a lovely word expand a passage rather than make you, as the reader, feel as though the writer had paused for dramatic effect. The Book Thief is written using a large vocabulary as well, which is interesting since it’s supposedly a YA book.
Thanks for permission to go for it. I recently had a critic tell me I overwrite, which made me withdraw back into ordinary language. I missed the rich visuals emerging from weightier words. I’m going back!
Shannon, the perfect word used in the perfect place is…perfection. We wordophiles have been known to use too many wonderful words all in a row.
Logophiles unite!
I love words and took lots of college electives in Linguistics just for fun. That’s also why I subscribe to A.Word.A.Day from Wordsmith.org and What’s the Good Word from alpha dictionary.com. But in my writing I try not to use such unique vocabulary that it draws the reader’s attention away from the story.
Ooo, Janet, these are just the sort of sites I need to connect with. Thanks for supplying them.
donnie reads to me at night. I stop him when ever I don’t understand a word.
Then we play the guessing game until I know what the word means. It’s a fun way to learn new words.
Hi Janet. I loved today’s post! It was fun and true. May I share it with my writing critique group?
Merriam Webster’s online dictionary site (www.merriam-webster.com) has a 10-question vocabulary quiz on its site. I really enjoy taking this as a way to improve my vocabulary. The words change with each quiz (some repeat on and off but that helps me learn the ones I don’t know). Each test has a range of words from “easy” to “hardest.” The test taker only has ten seconds to recognize the definition for each word, so it is almost like using flash cards. My one objection is that the answers are one-word synonyms so sometimes, with words I already know, I feel none of the answers are right because none of them means precisely the same thing as the test word. Still, the quiz is a good exercise for me because it introduces me to new words and then I want to go look them up in a dictionary to find out what they really mean.
Another good vocabulary-building resource is Wordsmith.com. It has something called A.Word.A.Day. This not only gives the meaning of the word for the day, it also gives the etymolgy (which I love) and examples of how to use the word. You need to subscribe to this site to get the word (sent via email) but its free.
I both love and hate thesauruses–basically for the reasons you mentioned.
For the most part, I think that a good vocabulary is helpful in speaking as well as in writing. I lean towards a near-compulsion to be precise so I like to use the exact word to express whatever I am trying to communicate. I can try myself insane with that, especially when the word for exactly what I am trying to say hasn’t been invented yet. 🙂 Using vocabulary, however, is an art. As you pointed out, a sophisticated word isn’t always the best choice. Finding the balance between the common and the high brow is important. This past Wednesday, someone in my critique group called me on the phrase “‘Certainly,’she said with feigned aplomb.” She called the phrase “feigned aplomb” archaic. I don’t agree that it is archaic, but she was right to point it out since it didn’t quite fit with the novel’s narrative voice.
Have a great Monday!
Thanks, Christine, for the Merriam-Webster vocabulary test info. I’ll check it, but I suspect that, like you, I’ll be frustrated by one-word answers.
You, of course, realized that your critique partner didn’t correctly analyze the problem re. “feigned aplomb.” But her ear did pick up on the phrase not working. That’s definitely a case of having to murder your darling.
You’re welcome. The Merriam-Webster site has a couple other quizzes as well and features such as “What are the top ten color words?” I hope you have fun exploring it!
Many times my husband stares at me in utter confusion when I taste and use a new word that I’ve happened upon recently. What I don’t understand is why my friends don’t want to hear me spout the Latin names of plants that I learned in my horticulture classes. 😉
drove maniacally
rustled the air
unkempt brown hair spiraled down
Jenni, color your friends horticulturally uncouth. I live “drove maniacally.”
Her copper brown hair cascaded down her back.
I love words, too. Having started out as an academic writer, one of my greatest struggles as a Christian writer involves decreasing the reading level. Many of the beautiful words that convey what I want to express in my writing are not known or understood by the average reader. So, it takes a lot of discernment to try to challenge, but not overwhelm. I work hard in this area and probably will for some time.
Susi, it’s a challenge every wordsmith here shares with you.
My critique group smiles at my choice of words and my most recent editor told me to dial it back. This isn’t to say I don’t want to increase my vocabulary, but I’m not sure how much application there will be for my new words.
I love dropping in new words or reading them in novels…it makes the book much more interesting. When I read an author like Hilary Mantel I feel like I’m furthering my knowledge…not JUST being entertained!
My brain freezes up when I get these tests. I’m ashamed to say the first one I used a plain word. I got better with the others.
crazily
scented
dull/trailed in strings
“Words, words, words. I’m so sick of words!” Poor Eliza Doolittle had it all wrong!
I love learning new words. There are certain authors I depend upon for that, and fully expect to come away from their new novels with a slightly expanded vocabulary.
Here’s a new (obsolete) word I recently encountered: resistentialism; The seemingly spiteful behavior shown by inanimate objects.
Thanks for sharing Jane’s words, Janet. I was beyond blessed by them. She made ME see my story in a new light.
Lori, I love “resistentialism.” I experience that with all sort of items–my hair, my wardrobe…do computers count as inanimate? I think they’re quite animate myself.
You’re very welcome regarding the sharing of Jane Kirkpatrick’s endorsement for your book. Her words comprise one of the most splendid endorsements I can recall ever reading. I can’t wait to dip into your novel!
Thanks for sharing the endorsement from Jane. I’m hopping over to Amazon now because of it! 🙂
I’m coming in late here, but I loved this post. It brings up something I’ve wondered before. Does a richer vocabulary hinder your reader’s response? I think the general answer might be: no, if the reader is older, but yes, if the reader is younger.
I do underline words I don’t know while I’m reading and look them up. But honestly it happens more if I’m reading something that isn’t a recent publish. I do find it in historical writing though, and often look up terms that reflect an era.
I would be more likely to use a lesser known word for the purpose of evoking an emotional connection, but not so foreign that it defeats the purpose of connecting. It’s a funny balance. But finding a sweet spot is…well, sweet!
Anne, finding that sweet spot is always the challenge. But we do know it exists!
Speaking of words: Don’t miss this YouTube piece of genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxoUUbMii7Q
I agree about using different words so as not to repeat the same ones over and over again. However, I have been told that one of the things my readers like about my book ‘Mr Alexander’ is its ease of reading. For what it’s worth, the words I used in the exercise are:
quickly; stirred; dark…….flowed.
What a wonderfully challenging article. This phrase is especially memorable: “If you haven’t befriended a word …”
I have pads of vocabulary words I used to work on in junior high through early graduate work. It is fun to go back and look at them sometimes. I don’t keep a pad for new words anymore, but I do look words up. I’ve found that if you hit the dictionary for the new words you encounter with an author you are reading for the first time, you will find them again later in that book and in the author’s other writings.
I recently encountered this word in a book by Lauren Winner (a great wordsmith!): oeuvre – “the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer.” This is a good word for us to know, since all of us writers and bloggers have an oeuvre!
Thanks for the post. wb
Warren, I adore the word “oeuvre” but never remember how to spell it. You have to come pretty close, or the dictionary doesn’t recognize it.
Laura Winner is a delight to read.
I have a question, what does it mean by Enrich the back of your book with text?
Dusty, I’m not sure what you’re referring to in the blog. When I wrote about enriching your writing, I was referring to the idea of building your vocabulary. The example of an endorsement was just that–and example of someone with a great vocabulary.