Writing Tips

It's a new month, so we start with interesting tips for the writer. This is from The Ready Writer's Consult.

Finding the right word was a lifelong quest for French novelist Gustave Flaubert. He once wrote in a letter to Guy de Maupassant:  Whatever you want to say, there is only one word that will express it, one verb to make it move, one adjective to qualify it. You must seek that word, that verb, that adjective, and never be satisfied with approximations, never resort to tricks, even clever ones, or to verbal pirouettes to escape the difficulty.

1. Be Patient

In revising, if the right word is not at hand, run a search, sort, select process through your mind to see if you can find it. (Even then, a word may be elusive, refusing to emerge from the mind one day only to arise from the subconscious the next.). Be prepared to rewrite today what you revised yesterday. Above all, be patient: take the time to select words that will transfer your exact thought to the mind of a reader.

2. Wear Out Your Dictionary

Once you have a dictionary, use it! Wear it out! When you sit down to write and need a particular word, pause to consider the key ideas you want to convey. Start with a word that's closely similar in meaning. Look it up and go from there, exploring synonyms, roots, and usage notes. A usage note in the dictionary can lead you to the word that fits, just like the right jigsaw puzzle piece slips into place.

3. Recognise Connotations

Don’t think you can substitute one word for another simply because a thesaurus groups them together under a single entry. The thesaurus will do you little good unless you are familiar with the connotations of possible synonyms for a given word. "Portly," "chubby," "chunky," "heavy," "overweight," "stocky," "plump," and "obese" are all possible synonyms for "fat," but they are not interchangeable. Your task is to select the word that conveys most accurately the precise shade of meaning or feeling you intend.

4. Don’t Rely on Your Thesaurus

Using a thesaurus will not make you look smarter. It will only make you look like you are trying to look smarter.

5. Beware of Fancy Language

There is a difference between vivid language and unnecessarily fancy language. As you search for the particular, the colourful, and the unusual, be careful not to choose words merely for their sound or appearance rather than for their substance. When it comes to word choice, longer is not always better. As a rule, prefer simple, plain language over fancy language.

Avoid language that seems stilted or unnecessarily formal in favour of language that sounds natural and genuine to your ear. Trust the right word – whether fancy or plain – to do the job.

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