Why Word Choice is Important

Ideas are rarely new. So when you write, there’s a good chance

that what you are presenting has been said before. In order not

to bore your audience, you have to make your writing

unique and original. But how does one accomplish this?

Write with style.

Quality word choice is significant improving a to a writer’s style.

Clever phrases, powerful verbs, just-right nouns . . . these lead to

a voice all your own, one you will enjoy using and one that will

keep your audience reading.

Using Powerful Verbs

Verbs come in two types: state of being verbs and action

verbs.

State of being verbs are most often variations on the “to be” verb: is, was, are, were, has been . . .

Most other verbs are action verbs, showing someone or something doing. These are the ones you can have fun with: blast, tip-toe, wrench, guzzle, fling, mutate,project, wink, plop, flutter, cascade, sink, yelp and snooze.

Using Powerful Verbs

First of all, look for ways to use action verbs over state of

being verbs whenever possible.

Original: The teacher is at her desk while the kindergarteners are all over the room.Rewrite: The teacher cowers at her desk while the kindergarteners sprint all over the room.

Using Powerful VerbsSome action verbs are very common and

over used. Replace boring action verbs with ones that

are not onlysnappy, but precise. Consider this

sentence:“No,” she said and walked out of the room.

The verbs are actions verbs, but not very exciting ones.

How about this instead:“No,” she murmured and shuffled out of

the room.

Using Precise Nouns

The man walked into the room. The nouns in the sentence above are

vague, general and unexciting.

The priest walked into the courtroom.Isn’t that better? Strive to use interesting,

precise nouns to describe objects and people.

Using Precise NounsHere’s another example:

Original: A dog bounded across the yard, scaring the

group half to death.

Rewrite 1: A Doberman Pincher bounded across the estate,

scaring the vandals half to death.

Rewrite 2: A toy poodle bounded across the Astroturf, scaring the trick-o-treaters half to death.

Using Adjectives

Use adjectives with caution. One mistake of beginning

writers trying to improve their word choice is to go into

“adjective overload.”

Here’s an example of what NOT to do:The lovely, fluffy, wonderful pillow

helped me get a peaceful, relaxing and great night’s sleep.

Boomer, our hyper, crazy, big, furry dog, licked my little cousin’s small pink hand until she gave him a treat.

Using Adjectives

“Adjective overload” doesn’t just happen when long strings

of adjectives get thrown into a sentence. Some writers will only use

one adjective per noun, but the problem is when they use an

adjective for EVERY noun.

Another example of what NOT to do:My fantastic friend gave me a wonderful

present for my very special day. It was an awesome poster of a cute kitten and an adorable puppy playing. It sure made up for the terrible name she called me on that awful school day last week.

Using Adjectives

If you were gagging on that last example, you tuned into the

fact that many commonly used adjectives are just that –

common and overused – and a bit sickening when used too

heavily.

Avoid adjectives such as wonderful, pretty, lovely, great,

awful, terrible and the like. These words “tell” rather

than “show” and make for boring reading. How was the

day beautiful? Describe it!

Using Adjectives

So what DO we do?

Use strong, descriptive adjectives only when they really add

to an idea. Consider lively adjectives such as these:

blistered sun-kissed raspy saturatedsilken

papery bejeweled turbid willfuleerie

gritty catastrophic acrid tatteredhaunting

crystalline redundant soullessvariegated cynical

sinuous unruly sluggish vacuousbitter

discombobulated scaly brazen polished lucid

Using AdjectivesThose listed on the last slide are just a few

examples of hundreds of adjective possibilities. Here

are a few in use:

• We followed the sinuous path of the river through the forest.

• Cortez’s bitter conquest of the Mayans was the beginning Western rule in the Americas.

• Grace’s haunting voice lilted over the airwaves.

• The sluggish clerk scanned our items, grabbing each with scaly hands, which made me reach for the travel-sized bottle of hand lotion displayed in the checkout line.

Using Adverbs

Whereas an adjective describes a noun, an ADVERB

describes, who would have guessed it, a verb. Most adverbs

are “ly” words.

Again, you want to avoid over using adverbs, but let’s take a

look at a few good examples in action:• The thief stealthy crept down the

museum hallway.• Tirelessly trudging through the mud, the

oxen harnessed to the plow continued their thankless job.

• Superman intuitively sensed the danger.

Creative Phrasing

Phrasing is probably the area where you can have the most

creative fun in writing. Creative phrasing is taking

ordinary words and phrasing them together in a unique,

pleasing manner.

Look at these words to describe a desert scene: cactus, sand,

windy, hills, arid, sun-baked, blue sky, expansive,

tumbleweed, harsh, unforgiving, sparse, rocky, rigid

Use these some of these words creatively to create a

descriptive picture of a desert scene (#10 on your notes).

Creative Phrasing

Here are some of the combinations I came up with:

• cactus-ridden, sun-baked hills of sand• Expansive tracts of gritty sand gave home

to sedentary cactus and racing tumbleweed

• the sharps winds of the desert lifted sand into the expansive sky

• spikes of cactus rose up into the unerring blue

• a palace of harsh, wind-driven sands and sun-baked rocks

• a arid canvas of sand carpets and cactus and topsy-turvy tumbleweed

• thirsty waves of sand • the fat dollop of a barrel cactus

Creative Phrasing

Many times, this just take a little rearranging of words you

already have.

Original: As I drove along the highway, I could see the summit of

Pasachoa off to my left. Having hiked on it, I know it’s green, and

all of its contours make it look like some grabbed it and twisted it,

but today I couldn’t see much because the windows were fogged up.

Rewrite: The green, twisted summit of Pasachoa slid by to

my left, but I could see little more than a dark splotch

through the veil of fog resting on the windows.

Creative Phrasing

Here are a few examples from my own writing. These are

from an essay about Christmas lights:

electric holiday frenzyicicle merrimentpsychedelic in-your-face festiveness

From an essay about traveling in Peru:a flurry of confused activitymountains draped in noble robes of snowa makeshift woolen cocoona dark sequined mantle (to describe the

night sky)

Use “Dense” Words

Once a month is monthly.Something new is novel.People they don’t know are strangers.Something impossible to imagine is

inconceivable.To think about for a long time is to ponder.Throughout the whole year is periodically.Over and over again is redundant or

incessant.Something that doesn’t last long is

fleeting.Refusing to follow directions is obstinate.

Use “Dense” Words

The previous slide just gives a few examples of how

you can reduce wordiness and improve the flow of

your sentences.

A big vocabulary helps, but is not necessary. Just pay

attention to the words you use and ask yourself if

anything better is available.

Remaining attentive to your writing is the key to improving it!

Words to Avoid

Avoid “like” as a modifier. NO: I was, like, horrified by the situation.YES! I was horrified by the situation.

Avoid “like” as a replacement for said or synonyms.NO: Layla was like, “No way!”YES! Layla shrieked, “No way!”

Words to Avoid (or use in serious moderation)

run thing stuff good bad

went said pretty uglyawful

nice sucks mad sadhappy

get well so

Avoiding Clichés

A cliché is an overused expression. Many clichés are

similes, such as “smokes like a chimney” or “like a

bump on a log.”

While clichés are often colorful, they are also

unoriginal and tired. Any writer can throw one in,

and far too many do, degrading the quality and art of

the writing.

Avoiding Clichés

More examples:Couldn’t find his way out of a paper bagEverything is coming up rosesLet the cat out of the bagRaining cats and dogsSafe and soundSnug as a bugKicked the bucketLive and learnNo guts, no gloryFirst and foremost

Avoiding Clichés

There are hundreds more clichés than the ones just listed.

How do you spot one in your writing so that you know to

replace it?

Ask yourself if you’ve heard that before, more than

just once or twice.

If so, it’s probably a cliché.

Avoiding Clichés

How do you replace a cliché? Be creative! Use description.

Look at the difference between these two sentences:

Cliché: The weather was awful! It was raining cats and dogs!

Creative: Thick rain drops pounded the pavement with force, sending pedestrians running for cover.

Notice how the second sentence is much more interesting

and descriptive? Challenge yourself to, as the joke goes,

avoid clichés like the plague. Har, har, har.

Using the Thesaurus

A thesaurus is a lot like a can of paint: it has the potential to

help you or cause a lot of harm.

Many writers new to the thesaurus make the mistake of

choosing big, academic-sounding words that they really don’t

know. While synonyms are similar, they are nuanced enough

that the word you choose has the potential to throw off your

reader and make you look silly. Plus, many words have more

than one meaning. If you choose a synonym for an alternate

meaning to the one you are using, it makes your sentence sound

quite strange.

Using the Thesaurus

The best use of a thesaurus is to find word you know, but

just hadn’t thought of at the moment. For example, let’s

say you want to describe something a soft – a voice, hair, the

flowers of a petal, skin or music.

“Soft” replacements: silky, downy, velvety, supple

The words mellifluous and faint can also replace soft, but

only for sounds. Diffused and dim work for only for light or

color.

Chances are you know most of these words, you just might not

have thought of them without the help of a thesaurus.

Using the Thesaurus

I even used the MSWord thesaurus in writing this Power

Point presentation. To remedy my over-use of the word

interesting, I looked it up and found many alternatives –

words I know, but just hadn't thought of at that moment.

Interesting: appealing, attractive, motivating, exciting, fascinating, attention-grabbing, remarkable, note-worthy, catchy

Obviously, not all of these words will work for all

occasions, so choose your words carefully!

Last WordGood word choice does take time and

thought, although itcomes easier the more you practice. Slow

down, consideryour words when you write and revise, and

you will begin tosee a dramatic improvement in the quality

of your writing.

Reading is another great way to help improve your word

choice. Nothing builds a strong vocabulary bank like

reading books!