Writing to keep Afloat

Certified Human – written without AI

In the current discourse on fiction, one of the topics that is most neglected is word choice. We talk about structure, characterization, grammar, usage, world building, etc., but I have never heard a specific talk on word choice. I’m sure they exist. I’m sure writers have written extensive articles on diction in modern writing, but to be frank, I am not interested in advice that tells me to stop using the word “very” or to strengthen my verbs. Those are tips I would expect from a high school English teacher, not from a fiction writer attempting to provide insight into how to craft a better novel.

So how can we pick words that go beyond the basics of composition and reveal what we are trying to convey with our work? And why is word choice so essential to that endeavor?

Socrates answered the question hyperbolically saying, “The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.” Why did he think language needed to be so precise? It is because it is the only tool we possess that allows us to convey truth.

1. Pick the truest words

When drafting or editing, the easiest way to decisively make change is to ask yourself, “is this the truest expression of what I am trying to say?” If the answer is “no”, think through what you want your reader to imagine and how you can best express that.

For example, instead of:
“He was angrier than a bull.”

I might write:
“His face was suddenly hot, and his hands shook as he clenched his fists.”

While the first metaphor might be easy to understand, it does not tell us anything true about his anger. We have no reference for how a bull feels when it’s angry, and so the analogy falls flat.
The second description does a much better job of demonstrating what is true about the character’s anger. In combination with the context of the scene, the reader knows not only how the character feels, but how that emotion manifests in his body.

2. Consider the weight of sound

When you hear the word “moist”, what do you feel? Does “damp” make you feel differently? The difference in the vowel sounds in these words elicit completely different reactions. “Damp” can be used to describe something beautiful, while “moist” should be reserved for unsavory descriptions.

For example, instead of:
Her moist dress clung to her body in all of the right places.

I might write:
Her damp dress clung to her body in all of the right places.

The impact of the sound of words doesn’t just apply to words we all hate like “moist”. Try the example above again, but substitute the word “wet”. Does the vowel sound or the hard consonant sound make a difference?

Compare the words “chew” and “bite”. Or “enraged” and “livid. Do the sounds of these words remind you of other words with similar sounds? In my mind, “livid” sounds like live and vivid. It’s like the anger is alive and animated.
When a word really matters, think about how its sounds and how your reader may interpret your choices.

3. Analyze social and cultural implications

Similarly to the weight of the sound of a word, the cultural connotation of our word choice can directly impact the way a reader feels about our work. For instance, in England if you write “she stuck her credit card in her boot”, your reader is going to believe that your character stowed her credit card in the trunk of her car. Whether or not your scene involves a car, your reader is going to be confused when your character later draws the card out of her shoe before paying for the ice cream.

Additionally, changes in culture result in changes in word meanings that can have drastic impacts on how we choose them. If we are writing a story about Moses, the word “tablet” is going to have a completely different meaning than if we are writing about a modern-day person. And even if we are writing about ancient history, being aware that our audience will first associate the word “tablet” with an iPad is essential to seeing how our work will be understood.

4. Think of who your POV character or narrator is

One of the most convincing ways to sell your POV character or narrator’s voice is to understand what word choices they would make. This is essential if you have a close point of view because you are inside your character’s head throughout the book. Key factors to character word choice may include nationality, languages they speak, family culture, profession, age, time setting, and place setting.

In the novel I am currently drafting, there are five POV characters who differ wildly in background. Some characters are wealthy and powerful, educated at premier institutions, and some are poor, working on farms or in mines. How they speak, what words they choose is essential to selling their backgrounds.

You should also consider your characters’ personalities when choosing words. Is your character reserved? Maybe she would avoid words with exuberant connotations. If your character is violent, maybe their descriptions of things are equally as violent even if there is no assault happening in the scene.

For instance, a violent POV might say:
The clock was broken, its arms twisted into grotesque shapes.

5. Apply the themes of your wider work

Before beginning, analyze the piece that you are working on and identify your core themes. For instance, in the first novel I wrote, my main themes were guilt and failure. I translated these themes to the page by including the physical themes of blood and soil throughout the work. Blood and soil represent the death of the people the main character could not save. Creating physicality in my themes helped me to make word choices that directly connected to the heart of my novel.

For example, instead of:
He walked along the hard-packed road, ignoring the splash of orange on the horizon that told him he was late.

I might write:
He walked along the hard-packed road, ignoring the blood-soaked horizon that told him he was late.

The simple choice to change the color of the sunrise increases the intensity of the scene and ties the main character back to the theme of blood-soaked failure.

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In conclusion, being more thoughtful with word choice can transform your writing, and while you can always change words in your editing process, it becomes difficult to change every word if your overall word choice is poor. Practicing the incorporation of these techniques into your drafting will help you write a more finished first draft and make editing less frustrating.

It is because of these impacts that I advocate against fast-drafting. Even for seasoned writers who have built a habit of strong word choice, fast-drafting can degrade word choice and editing every word in future drafts is not a task for the weak. Personally, I choose to take longer on my first draft, thinking about what word choice I should be using and make fewer changes during editing.

Whatever method you choose, I hope you think more critically about what words you choose. The English language is truly beautiful and allows us to shape worlds in a single sentence, if we take the time to learn how to wield it.