Choosing the Right Words in Writing—Maintain Your Power
If you want to be a writer, understand that words make a difference
Use your words (correctly, please)
One of the best books on writing that I’ve ever read is Stephen King’s On Writing. Yes, I know, some pundits pooh-pooh the book. But his advice is real, straightforward, and heartfelt. It’s a lot easier to digest than Strunk and White.
I’m an old writer. Been around longer than Stephen, though I suspect he’s earned more royalties. I’m passionate about writing. I have a true affection for the English language. I adore creative use of language, but I respect the effort to use words appropriately.
For example, you can say, “I did it by accident.” Perfectly correct. Perfectly understandable.
You can also say, “I did it ON a accident.” That has become acceptable, but it is just dead wrong. A writer doing that loses credibility unless its in dialogue to illustrate something about a character’s background.
Recently, I offered advice to a burgeoning writer with real potential. This writer didn’t ask for my input, but that didn't stop me.
On arguing about appropriate use of words
The story in question was on a blog—the writer took exception to my unsolicited input. Fair enough. However, the writer, presented as a writing coach. Their careless use of several words jangled as loudly as putting “irregardless” in place of “regardless,” but they told me emphatically, “I wrote what I wanted to write in my personal voice.”
Yes, voice is important and deserves respect. But I like to see writers polish their work until it shines and compels readers to keep reading. If your writing makes readers pause to figure out what you are really saying, it’s tarnished. You lose presence or substance. And that writer lost gobs of both.
Carelessly misusing words when you don’t really own or understand them doesn’t make you a good writer. The writer I critiqued wrote, “I was brandishing her with an errant vegetable.” Such a statement says the writer was not comfortable with the word brandishing and failed to own the meaning. Appropriate use would be brandishing the veggie rather than brandishing the woman. When in doubt, don’t fake it; simplify. Maybe just opt for, “I shook the vegetable in her face.”
On writing — a little more about words
People toss homonyms around with impunity, especially if they frequent social media. Soon, there will be no difference between their, there, and they’re. What will happen to your and you’re, or even the use of the apostrophe at all? Yes, language evolves, and usage changes. That’s fine if there’s a reason for the change or if such change advances us. But if the change grows out of lazy writing or lack of language education, the result is distressing and discordant.
If you choose to be a writer, then you should probably choose to know, understand, and respect your own language so that you can help perpetuate its grace and beauty.
We can accomplish that by reading amazing wordsmiths. Try The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman or Beloved by Toni Morrison. See if you get a feel for their use of language.
“Together they waged a perfunctory battle against the outrageous behavior of that place; against turned-over slop jars, smacks on the behind, and gusts of sour air. For they understood the source of the outrage as well as they knew the source of light.” —Toni Morrison in Beloved
Those words sing a mournful dirge and paint a stark picture. Gaiman and Morrison play with language, and they respect it. Without a doubt, Morrison’s characters ( and for sure John Steinbeck’s) massacre “proper” English. But you can be 100% certain that those writers knew the rules before they ever wrote their first passage.
Writers in demand—those with staying power—read a lot. They write a lot. They study people and life. When they break rules, they do it deliberately and purposefully, not to be clever or hip but to cause a meaningful response from readers. That is what writing and language are about.
More unsolicited advice to writers of any ilk
My advice, born of the same hubris as an old lady who admonishes a young girl to button up her cleavage, is this: Go ahead and be creative with your language if it makes your writing stand above the commonplace. Never get carried away with making your writing sound writerly. That fails 100% of the time.
But we need to be cautious and know the rules and definitions of good English (or Russian or Portuguese) before we break those rules. Choosing exactly the right word says something about a writer and it is never accidental. Readers feel that. Using the wrong word or a word in the wrong context says something, too. It’s like the difference between compliment and complement. One is right; the other dims your light. If you take away nothing else from this story, remember that each time a reader has to pause to puzzle out your meaning, you’ve given them a chance to bail.
I’m honored that you invested your valuable reading time in this story. Thanks.
Wonderfully written and rightfully unapologetic in the intent and importance of the message.
I am apt to say that “words mean shit.”
Steve Jobs said, “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
My biggest shame in life is only graduating from high school and taking a few college courses over a lifetime.
I love to write. It's how I communicate best. I hired two writing coaches (three if I include a $4,000 memoir writing class from two Berkely instructors that was held online) instead of taking time and money to go to college and warn a degree.
At the end of the day I simply couldn't take the criticism.
I needed encouragement not being told how terrible I was (or am). So I write anyway. I do the best I can with grammar and words. I try and edit the best I can.
I've never been told not to write, just that I'm terrible at it.
Maybe someday I'll go back to college, if I can ever afford it.
I learned to write by reading and studying other authors. And I'm going to keep writing.
Good article.