Broaden your Vocabulary-Tip#15
Dear Storyteller,
Broaden your Vocabulary is Tip#15!
This may seem too simple of a topic to even touch upon, but it is a vastly important one.
Let’s discuss why…
Reason #1-helps reduce repetition of words…
I don’t know if you feel the same, but as a writer, I tend to utilize the same words often. While it’s unintentional, it does happen…more frequently than I would like.
My best remedy for this is my use of Merriam-Webster’s Thesaurus. I typically use the online version for convenience’s sake. Since my phone is within easy reach of my computer, whenever I come across a word I’d like to change up, I can quickly access Merriam-Webster online, search for a better word choice, and then immediately implement it.
Reason #2-Helps color your story…
This is another good reason why broadening your vocabulary is so incredibly important and helpful. Having a variety of words in your writer tool box when penning your story adds depth and color to its weaving. This is especially useful when peppering your prose with adjectival or adverbial descriptors or modifiers.
By broadening your vocabulary, you now have a wide range of sensory and descriptive terms, which can turn an ordinary sentence into a deep, immersive experience for your reader.
Think of the books you love best. Then consider how the author colors his or her prose with descriptions using a variety of words. Next, think about how this drew you further into the author’s story. How did the play of words make you feel? And then keep this in the back of your mind for your own masterpiece.
Example…
I don’t know that I’ve mentioned this quite so much here on The Writer’s Nook, but an author that really comes to mind for me in regards to broadening my vocabulary is Rosemary Sutcliff. She is an amazing descriptive writer with all the penache and beauty of a medieval scribe. Her Arthurian novellas are what captured me as a reader. The stunning quality of her prose immediately drew me into the Arthurian world she recreated and deeply immersed and invested me in her story.
When I think of Rosemary, two masterpieces come to mind: 1) her retelling of Tristan and Iseult, and 2) The Sword and the Circle. If you are seeking an incredible reading experience this winter, curl up with these two books and be prepared to be swept away. I cannot say enough good things about them.
I was also so inspired by her writing style and the depth of her stories that I poured my heart and soul into my own New Adult Arthurian-esque novella that I fashioned after Rosemary’s prose.
It was and is probably my best work, if only for the fact that it was penned from the heart, without the anticipation that any reader would ever lay eyes on it (honestly, as all my novels are). I truly believe novels penned in this manner are the best an author has to give because they are written without interference of mind or concern over disapproval, as we’ve discussed in earlier tips.
Reason #3-Sets you apart from other books…
Broadening your vocabulary sets you apart from other books on the market. While it may, in one sense of it, narrow your niche, it does, however, profit you. You have a very dedicated reader base who are seeking the higher eschelon in life.
Why would vocabulary limit your readership?
The only potential reason it could limit your readership is secondary to fewer and fewer readers these days are seeking this type of literature.
BUT, I could totally be wrong about this. I’m basing this on what I glean from perusing social media. This may not be the case at all. You honestly never know what readers are looking for until you have the strength and the courage to publish. The rest is up to God. He oversees all, and it is a privilege and a blessing as a Christian author to have any readers at all. I may unabashedly say thank you to all those who have chosen to read my novels and love them. This is such a touching realization, and one that I am humbly grateful for.
But isn’t that snotty to say your vocabulary could limit your readership?
Mmm, maybe some would deem it so. But this isn’t meant in a prideful manner. Rather, it is a grasping for something more noble than what the world currently offers.
If you consider the medieval era, the reverence and awe that books evoked was quite profound and deeply moving. Books were a rarity. A privilege. Something we now take for granted.
And the level of maturity and use of speech during the medieval era are something to be emulated, in my opinion. For in this day and age, we grossly lack the beauty of the old language, where respect, chivalry, and reaching for something higher were lauded.
Are you sure this is different from today?
Sadly, yes.
Today, the most popular books on the market send readers into the gutter. There is nothing uplifting or inspiring in what they write…or how they’re written. It appeals rather to the basest level of humanity. Because of this, I consider our aim as Christian writers to be a pursuit of the highest calling. As Paul says in Colossians 4:13, “In whatever you do, do all to the glory of Christ.”
What should a Christian writer’s goal be?
To do all things to the glory of Christ. No matter what we do. And yet, I consider writing to be one of the highest and noblest callings. For by it, do we heavily influence those around us through every event, word, conversation, and romantic gesture our novels convey.
For this reason, we ought to pursue a higher level of prose than most.
Does this mean you can’t write simply?
For brevity’s sake; no. Simplicity is often the best form of prose.
Because of my romantic nature, I gravitate toward a more descriptive writing style. However, that doesn’t mean that you must follow suit. My emphasis here is to encourage you to broaden your vocabulary by learning new words and a new way to convey those words in text.
Does that mean I have to write one way and that’s it?
Certainly not.
I employ various writing styles of my own. Some are more simplistic in nature, and yet others are more complex, as with my debut trilogy, In the Shadow of Emerald Fire.
It all depends on what genre I’m writing, which era I’m writing in, and the voice I want the story to hold.
And this is definitely not meant to say that you must revert to a King James version of writing with thee’s and thou’s sprinkled throughout your story. This is only meant to impress upon you the importance of taking seriously your role as a writer and encouraging the readers for whom you write to embrace something higher and better than what the world prefers to present.
#4-Consider your novel a means of education
As aforementioned, the beauty of the written word held a more profound impact on medieval society, as do the plethora of books we term the “classics” today.
Books such as Austen, Dickens, Brontë, Henty, and Dumas are those authors whose prose captivates the world and whose stories expound to the reader the deeper things of life.
I’ve probably mentioned it before, but my older brother, who is very academic, swore by reading the classics prior to writing any sort of paper in school. He stated that reading the classics prepared his mind (and his pen, so to speak) for organizing and conveying the topic at hand in an intelligent manner. He was always successful. Because of it, I often take his advice to heart, and if I am unable to progress my writing, I will oftentimes take a break from it and read something of a higher level in order to help myself get back into my novel. It has not failed me yet.
Thus, it is important to consider part of what you write as educative for others, for you are not only telling a story but also shaping the minds of those who read what you’ve written.
Another example:
While I have not personally read her books yet, I have heard amazingly great things about Gillian Brontë Adams’s Of Fire and Ash, which is a LOR-type novel with fire-breathing horses.
Gillian is probably a great example of how you can reach a higher eschelon of prose without being pretentious. She invests the reader in higher quality without compromising her storyline. She has a very unique style of writing that is both enchanting and inviting.
Check out her Fireborn series here on Amazon, and discover for yourself the art of prose at some of its finest!
She is published by Enclave Publishing-a Christian fantasy publisher.
Please note: some reviews of Gillian’s books state that she does have quite a bit of violence and some torture scenes in her books. So just be aware of this before reader consumption. As I mentioned, I haven’t yet read her books, so I’m not familiar with their full content. From my understanding, there is little to no romance in the first book as well.
#5-Provides an historical context
Last but not least, I would say that expanding on your current vocabulary usage also provides the basis for worldbuilding and historical context.
If you are writing a medieval tale, you surely would not want to use modern language in your dialogue or even your descriptive passage…to a degree.
Appropriately using language and words help immerse your reader into the tale that you have created for them. Thus, providing them a setting rich in the historical accuracies of language and dialogue can help you in the long run with authenticity, which is what we really want in a story. It helps us feel grounded in the new world the author created, and it helps us feel a part of the real culture and era in which the story is set.
Conclusion
There are probably many more reasons why building a higher level vocabulary will aid in your storytelling. However, these are just 5 quick tips (from my experience) to help you see that vocabulary isn’t something to just ignore. It’s a great way to set yourself apart from other books, create a writing style unique to yourself, and immerse your reader in the amazing setting you’ve created just for them!
I hope you found this helpful! And that one of your goals from here on out may be to either have your online thesaurus handy while writing or that you may invest in a word of the day calendar. I got those two years in a row at Christmas when growing up, and they were super helpful!
Have questions?
Let me know in the comments below, or send me an email at contact@adgermanbooks.com. I’m always happy to hear from you!
Until next time…I hope you discover a whole new world of amazing words and the myriad of possibilities they hold in the making. God bless xoxo
