Sorry we missed each other last week. Work was bananas busy and I just didn’t have the time to write this blog. I hate it when that happens! Now that I’m back, we’re going to get into a more advanced topic. Diction is hard. Let’s chat about word choice.
Drawing from the Well
You can probably guess that there are no updates here. If I don’t have time to blog, you KNOW I don’t have time to write. I hope for better news next week.
Filling the Well
Look, I swear I had caught up, but I’m back to 2 books behind now. In the last two weeks, I finished six books, though. Those include two Judge Dee novellas, both great, obviously, and the rest of the Hexed boxed set of novellas. They were all good. Now, I’m back to the mainline Kate Daniels novels. Should be fun!
53/100 for #ProjectBookworm2024
Additionally, it’s Pre-Patch Day in World Warcraft. The next expansion, The War Within, starts today with all the system changes. It’s going to be an exciting time of LUA errors, broken addons, and general disorientation. It’s going to be great! (I know it sounds awful, but it is one of my favorite times in WoW.)
Well Chat
Diction is word choice. It’s more complicated than Thesaurus.com, though. Using a $10 word in a $1 sentence is going to stand out as trying too hard. So how do you sharpen your diction? And why does it matter?
Part of my editing process is looking at this very thing. When I’m drafting, I’m focused on getting words on the page. That means using and re-using the first, and often simplest, word that comes to mind. Obviously, leaving it in this state would lead to a flat, uninteresting novel. That has to be changed. The other problem is that this leads to word count bloat. The fewer words you can use to communicate the same idea, the higher impact each of those words has and the better you hold your reader’s attention. This is also why diction is so important. Even a change as simple as “taken out” to “removed” improves your work. Pair that with word choice variety, and you’re getting somewhere.
Why is it hard, though? Well, our brains are inherently lazy. Once it finds a path that works, it retreads that as often as necessary to conserve energy. Making better work is forcing your brain to avoid those well-trodden paths. Ideation is hard in that sense, though, because your brain has put itself in a box. I mentioned Thesaurus.com at the top of this Chat. This is a great place to get ideas for different words, but there’s a balance. As I said at the outset, a $10 word in a $1 sentence glares at the reader. The same is true of a $100 sentence on a $5 page. Now, that latter can be used to great effect. That’s how we get book quotes, after all. If that’s only because of diction, though, you’re garnering attention in the wrong way. It’s the idea that should jump off the page, not the words themselves. So, how do you balance this?
There are two ways. The first is to only use words you already know. Thesauruses can act as a reminder, but don’t use a word you don’t know. All matching words may have similar definitions, but the connotations will differ. Ignoring that can drastically change the meaning of your sentence. If you stick to words you have already learned, you’ll avoid this pitfall. The other option is to actively buff up your vocabulary. I have a book on the shelf that I’ve had for years in this regard that I use from time to time to learn new words. This will not only expand your vocabulary, but it will also beef up the first option we already mentioned. If you know more words, you get to use more words.
So, there you have it. Diction is hard because there are so many aspects to consider. With adequate care, though, you can knock your readers socks off by using just the right word at just the right time. And don’t worry about challenging your readers a little. If it is the exactly-right word based on definition and connotation for your situation, use it. I look up words in books I read all the time. I’m not mad at the author until I can tell they’re overreaching.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG