Thread: Vocabulary

I've got quite a large vocabulary but as a writer, it's just not proving to be good enough and I'm desperate to improve it! I find myself using thesauruses often or using the same words to describe things or a character's behaviour - I have too many overused words in my stories at the moment.
I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how to improve without reading a thesaurus cover to cover!

Read the classics. Dickens. Shakespeare. Jane Austen. Conrad. Faulkner. Updike. Find ones you like and refuse to skip over words without understanding them. You'll experience some great stories and enhance your vocabulary immeasurably.

cheers
J.R.

You can do what JR said - good advice. You say you have "...quite a large vocabulary..." but if you find yourself using the same words over and over again, do you?
You don't have to read a thesaurus cover to cover, just start on the areas where you do struggle. Finding a new word can be a trigger for writing a sentence in a whole different way...

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

You can do what JR said - good advice. You say you have "...quite a large vocabulary..." but if you find yourself using the same words over and over again, do you?
You don't have to read a thesaurus cover to cover, just start on the areas where you do struggle. Finding a new word can be a trigger for writing a sentence in a whole different way...

I think I do, in comparison to some people I know. I'd be happy with my vocabulary if I wasn't a writer. I do tend to overuse some words. Thanks for the advice, and you too J.R.

It's not about coming up with schmancy new words to use. It's about fully applying what you already have in different areas. Try digging through your brain for words that you know, but that you don't use in everyday conversation.

You might be suprised at how much you don't know that you know.

You might be suprised at how much you don't know that you know.

I'll agree with this. I tend to do a check on the most used words in any story I've written, and then set about cutting down on the most used ones, replacing them with appropriate alternatives. It's not that I don't know, or understand, the alternatives; more that they don't spring to mind when I'm writing, and when getting the story out is upper most in my mind.

What J R MacLean says, except that I find It spoils my enjoyment of a book if I break to go and find the dictionary. I always carry a notebook and pencil, so if I come across a word I don't know, or am unsure of the exact meaning of, I underline it on the page then write it and the page number in the front of the book. When I have finished I go through, look them up and re-read them in context. I rub it all out as I do, so as not to annoy the next reader.

I have quite often found that many of the words I don't know are in the first chapter or so, and then repeated later in the book, you are not the only author who repeats their vocabulary.

Has it occurred to you that you don't want to use words your readers don't know? Sometimes it is better to stay with simple words, but find another way round of expressing the idea.

I was feeling the same as you some time back. Over time, I have found alternative words easier to come by, often without thinking. I reckon that's the trick, don't think too hard and the word will come to you. I would suggest it's like walking into a room of ten people you know, then come out and try to write their names down. The more you think, the less you remember. Let it happen naturally, or step away and come back. I also believe the advice above is sound. In addition, I believe the more you write the easier it is to come by different words. Your collection and use of short words, in particular, will increase with time.

Steve

Why do you feel the need to improve your vocabulary? For the most part I believe the only people who care about vocabulary are those who study it. Just like people don't like to be corrected when they have poor grammar, people don't like to stop what they're reading to find a word's meaning. I don't read books to learn new words, I read to escape or to learn something outside of my own area of expertise.

A broad vocabulary is not necessary to be a good writer. It's not how many words you know, but how you use them that makes your writing effective. Read Hemmingway, or Cormac McCarthy. They don't use large, or obscure words to tell their stories. They use the words that are needed. Words are just tools, it doesn't matter how many you have if you don't have the skills to use them well. The builders who raised the Cathedral de'Notre Dame had far few tools at their disposal than did the guys who built my local post office. More words won't make you a better writer.

Writing isn't about vocabulary. I used to think the same way. I would have a dictionary beside me whenever I'd read a book. Any time I came on a word I didn't understand, I would look it up. After a few years, my vocabulary greatly improved. I started using these words all throughout my work. I thought that was what a writer did: Use formal language and words ordinary people never heard tell of. I gave my novel to a friend to read. The next time I saw him, some six months later, he told me he couldn't finish it because he had to put it down at almost every page to look up a word in the dictionary.

When you have a reader's attention, the last thing you want them to do is put your book down to open a dictionary. Some people just skip over the words, but many will consult a dictionary to find their meaning. That isn't to say you can't use them. Just that you shouldn't do so for the sake of it.

I heartily agree here. Tell your story to the best of your ability with the words you know. It's how you use the words that's important.

Sometimes a 50 pence word is better than a £10 word, especially if the parking meters only read loose change.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, I appreciate it

Originally Posted by Offeiriad

Why do you feel the need to improve your vocabulary? For the most part I believe the only people who care about vocabulary are those who study it. Just like people don't like to be corrected when they have poor grammar, people don't like to stop what they're reading to find a word's meaning. I don't read books to learn new words, I read to escape or to learn something outside of my own area of expertise.

This post seems to be saying that every published author who ever drew breath must dumb down every single word of their writing to a level understandable by the ill-educated masses. I say 'Phooey' to that. If we don't teach them, who will?