Choosing the Right Word

Some while back, one of my blogging colleagues wrote that even before writers are lovers of words, they must be lovers of sentences. Without disagreeing at all, I would like to explore a little more the sense in which we must also be lovers of words, logophiles—it’s a step of detail in our writing that can’t be bypassed.

Chances are you’re already a logophile. I sure am. As a kid, while the rest of the family watched “Have Gun, Will Travel”, I lay on the living room floor and read the dictionary. So many wonderful words! Words that meant something so specific! Words with nuances, with resonances, with power! I could have eaten them up (there’s a fantasy for someone to write).

Shades of Gray and Other Colors

Don’t miss out on that rich variety with which the English language has blessed us. That doesn’t mean we have to use fifty-cent words, but we should always use the right word, the one that says—not just roughly—but precisely what we want to convey. If you’ve ever used the thesaurus (and I’d like to meet the writer that hasn’t), you’ll notice that the words offered are not altogether synonymous. If you look up laugh, you’ll find chuckle, giggle, shriek, roar, cachinnate, titter, snort, and chortle, to name just a few. No one, however poor their vocabulary, is going to picture the same thing when you say chuckle, giggle, or roar. Each word describes a very particular action, and it might well be completely inappropriate to chortle in triumph when you should chuckle discreetly. The classic example of precision in word choice is red: so what is red? Tomato? Crimson? Scarlet? Cinnabar? Oxblood? Don’t be content with the impoverished choice of red; give us more of a picture by using the right word.

Weather: Variable

In addition to precision, the right choice of word prevents unwanted repetition. Read your manuscript out loud and you’ll see what I mean. Have you said grim in every paragraph? Try grave, severe, forbidding—or substitute a body cue for an adjective: tense mouth, knotted eyebrows. Authors who can keep the words varied have a texture of writing that is intelligent and aesthetic… and pleasing to readers. Along with this, we might mention choosing words that actually mean something rather than everything. You know what I mean: Nice. Incredible. Awesome. Years ago I read a fae fantasy to my son that used incredible at least once on every page. To say that didn’t give me much of a mental picture is an understatement. It just made me cry, “Where was the line editor?” and shed a bitter tear. So ration those words and make ’em count.

Listen Up

Along with preventing repetition of words, choosing mindfully can prevent laughter-inducing alliterations or unintended rhymes that distract the reader from the serious scene you are describing. Just today, I found myself using frail, flickering, and flame in one sentence. Oops! Really distracting. On the other hand, there are times when you might do something like that consciously and deliberately, or employ conscious and deliberate repetition of words to hit an idea like a hammer (see? I did it there). It’s your choice. It’s your own choice.

I hope these little ideas have given you something to think about when you’re revising your next manuscript. Let your inner logophile speak and put the right words in your mouth and on your page.