A Bookish Sarah

encouragement & bookish things

slide code

Social Media Icons

Photo

Sarah
Welcome, friend! Relax & rest awhile, if you please. I'm an ordinary girl, a follower of Christ, mama to Gabriel, Heidi, & Aidan; and wife to Evan. Here in this little space of the online world, I share all manner of bookish things, including full content reviews, writerly snippets, encouragement for everyday life, and a whole collection of names & their meanings.

welcome to my blog

social media icons 2

Search

category 1

Reviews

category 2

Names

category 3

Encouragement

Use Your Words, Sweetheart


Mumbling never got anybody anywhere.

Remember that word post I shared last week? Good! 'Cuz here's another one.  :]

I've read a couple books recently where I was greatly impressed by their use of exceptional vocabulary. I found myself extremely grateful for my Kindle and its ability to touch & hold a word and have the definition pop up right away. You could say reading those books and realizing how good they sounded (in my head, of course) in the usage of their more uncommon words might have inspired these posts, but seriously—as writers, you should work to strengthen your vocabulary and the wording of your WIPs (works-in-progress). Why? Because it will give your story a richer flavor. It will ban any dullness from your pages in the tales you wish to tell.

Now, I'm not saying you should dig deep into your thesaurus “rex” and add an otherwise unheard of synonym in EVERY paragraph. IF you do that, you'll drive away your reader AND make them feel dumber than a sheep skipping to slaughter. All's you need is the just-right porridge. Capisci?

Ok, then, what is that? How do I do it? Simply this, mix it up! But HOW? How do I do [accomplish] this [such a feat]? Ahhh, well, come to me, my wee little lambs, and I shall tell you: STRENGTHEN YOUR WORDS. Even so, much too much and you'll lose your reader's attention and/or they'll skim the pages and leave a bad review.

And we don't want that, do we? *pouty lips*
Do we??



Here's another tip (because you NEED my unending wisdom, right??):  Never use a word, or one almost exactly similar, twice in one paragraph. Your reader will get the feeling of repetition and poor quality. I think we need an example, yes?

          An hour and a half later, Nanami sank to the floor beside her friend Britta. Water bottles near at hand, they both commenced into stretches, gratefully relieving weary muscles. While she loved ballet—because, come on! it was her LIFE now—she was relieved the day was nearly over and she could enjoy one of her only free evenings off.



See? *scoffs*
Now, fix it:

          An hour and a half later, Nanami sank to the floor beside her friend Britta. Water bottles near at hand, they both commenced into stretches, gratefully relieving weary muscles. While she loved ballet—because, come on! it was her LIFE now—she was happy the day was nearly over and she could enjoy one of her only free evenings off.

I have seen this so many times in a variety of stories. It just makes me wanna. Fix. It! Hopefully, this will help you. Because that's my goal! I'd love to publish a book or three someday, but if that doesn't happen, so be it. I'm still a freelance writer of sorts, a poet, a blogger, and a master of creating numerous WIPs (that don't really go anywhere. But that's okay! 'Cuz it's fun!). ;D

If you have read this to its end, I commend you! and thank you from the bottom of my heart. And if there's anything you can glean from this wordy post, it's this: USE your words! Find 'em, and use 'em!

{By the way, Mr Bigg from Zootopia never actually says that line, but I'd bet a hot peppermint mocha you read it in his voice!}

Photos & GIFs via Pinterest.

Fairfarren,
Sarah

Comments

  1. Oh man, I haaaate when the same word is used more than once in a paragraph. It's a pet peeve of mine! I try to do everything in my power to avoid it. (And by "everything in my power" I mean I go to Thesaurus.com. *cough, cough*)

    Wonderful tips once again! I'm loving these wordy posts. ^_^

    (And I TOTALLY read that in Mr. Big's voice, you trickster you! :P)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I read it in Mr. Biggs voice and then I stopped and sat her for a whole minute trying to think of when he said that.

    And great post!

    -Mary Kate

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christine: Thanks, girlie! I love how we UNDERSTAND one another. Keep your friends close and your Thesaurus closer! HAHA! xD

    Mary Katherine: Thanks! So glad you stopped by! Haha, well, I kinda took the liberty of using Mr Bigg's photo and putting that caption there. He never really says anything of the sort... heheh :]

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass, and a book of rules,
And each must make, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.
-Anonymous-

ppl love these

February Snippets!
Here are some Snippets from last month.  These hail from my WIP Safia and another project I'm …
Name Reveal!
Happy November! I don't know about you, but as I sit & type up this little post, I have the …
Book Review | The Goblin Crown
Hello, lovelies!  Just now attempting to get back into the swing of things here in the blog world. …
Book Review | When Mountains Move
Well, no worries, my lovelies!  This review will be rather short.  Simply because. . . I didn'…