I would have to say that vocabulary is the single most important tool to a writer, regardless of what they write. It seems pretty obvious that a writer needs words in order to write, but there is much more than that skin-deep observation.
A writer needs to have basic, functional words. There are tens of thousands of words that people with no formal education know. Since everybody knows these, they don't need to be learned, but one should understand that basic words are universal and can explain everything in daily life.
A writer needs to have technical words. If you are writing about a field outside of basic, universal experiences, you will need to be able to use the terms that are part of that field. Are you in an office building? Make sure you call ink "toner". Few people have an answering machine, but everybody has "voice mail". However, if you aren't a technical writer, you will need to make sure that somebody outside of that field will still understand what you're talking about.
A writer needs to have rhythm and melody. If a sentence is awkward to say, the reader will have difficulty understanding it. A sentence that has a beat to it will be easy to read and packs a stronger punch. Similarly, sentences with the same sounds seem smoother.
A writer needs to have excitement. Why should I "draw nice pictures" when I could "craft exquisite beauties"? Why should I "walk really quickly" when I could simply "run", "sprint", or even "dash"? Are my clothes in a "fancy closet" or are they in the "armoire"? If you have descriptive nouns, you will never need adjectives. If you have exciting verbs, you won't need adverbs. You will also have strong writing.
What this all comes down is having a mastery of your language. It's very easy to be vague and it's easy to use a whole lot of boring words to describe complex ideas or images, but it just doesn't have much power to it. When you use the perfect word, you save a lot of energy on your part and you save the audience the same energy. When you put words together so they flow and produce a sound to match your intent, the audience experiences your writing on a whole new level. It makes people not simply read what you wrote but feel it.
When words are all you have to express yourself, make every word count.
About Me
- Kevin Bahler
- I am a writer. A writer is one who writes. By the same logic, I am also a thinker, an observer, and a puzzle solver. I am a graduate from the State University of New York at Cortland with a degree in Professional Writing. The idea of the program is that one studies all three aspects of writing as a whole: Creative Writing, Technical Writing, and Rhetoric. The knowledge I have gained in those subjects is put to use in every aspect of my life. The worst thing a person can be is boring. I am most interested in people who can pique my interests. An example is people who can correctly use the word 'pique'.
No comments:
Post a Comment