Varied Wording & How To Avoid High-Mindedness
DescriptionSome quick tips and tricks on how to use a diverse vocabulary while avoiding sounding pretentious.
MessageYour mileage may vary. This is just general help, not a fix for everything.
ImageWRTN
High-Mindedness - A Detriment to All WritersTo some, this may seem contrary to what has always been taught to you. When you are writing, your audience should always be in mind. Whether it's preschoolers, middle schoolers, high schoolers, or so on, you need to be aware of who is reading your work. And sometimes, you're not. So you need to write with all ages, all people in mind, to expand your reach and understandability. This is extremely useful for article writers, but essays have a similar idea. You don't want to confuse your reader, you don't want to go over the top, you don't want to make it difficult to read. Anyone should be able to casually read it, but this doesn't mean your work should be bad on purpose, or that it shouldn't be well written, but that you shouldn't act more knowledgeable than you are. If someone two times young than you AND two times older than you can't understand and enjoy what you are writing, then there may be an issue. “If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself” (Albert Einstein). You need to understand what you're writing, don't just go into a thesaurus and find random words. Make sure you are writing from your own mind, not someone else's. That's what makes it yours.
Varied Wording - How to Expand Your Vocabulary ProperlySo what is the right way to expand your vocabulary in your writing, what is the right way to not be repetitive? Keep learning, keep reading, keep writing. If you do decide to go into a thesaurus in exploration of new words, good, but make sure you are actually learning them. Look at the definition, the parts of speech, its synonyms, antonyms. You should know the meaning of a word inside-out, as learning new vocabulary can greatly help you avoid repetition. And don't forget, you have the internet, you have free and easy access to the ability to learn. Don't just look up fancy words to put into your essay, but actually learn what they mean, and how to use them, as they may help you find more.
Varied wording is critical to your ability as a writer. You don't want to be stale, you don't want to be stagnant. Mine over the past five years has grown exponentially, and I have only had access to a fraction of the resources some do. It is possible, and the best advice is to, again, learn, learn, learn. Absorb as much information as possible, go as in-depth as possible, and most importantly, have a good time doing it.
Varied Wording - How to Expand Your Vocabulary ProperlySo what is the right way to expand your vocabulary in your writing, what is the right way to not be repetitive? Keep learning, keep reading, keep writing. If you do decide to go into a thesaurus in exploration of new words, good, but make sure you are actually learning them. Look at the definition, the parts of speech, its synonyms, antonyms. You should know the meaning of a word inside-out, as learning new vocabulary can greatly help you avoid repetition. And don't forget, you have the internet, you have free and easy access to the ability to learn. Don't just look up fancy words to put into your essay, but actually learn what they mean, and how to use them, as they may help you find more.
Varied wording is critical to your ability as a writer. You don't want to be stale, you don't want to be stagnant. Mine over the past five years has grown exponentially, and I have only had access to a fraction of the resources some do. It is possible, and the best advice is to, again, learn, learn, learn. Absorb as much information as possible, go as in-depth as possible, and most importantly, have a good time doing it.