creative writing and word choice

Making the Right Word Choices for Better Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Oct 3, 2023 | Better Writing | 16 comments

Word choice is a critical component of good writing.

Have you ever read a sentence and wondered what it was trying to say? Ever gotten hung up on a word that felt out of place because the meaning of the word didn’t fit the context? When was the last time you spotted a word that was unnecessarily repeated throughout a page, chapter, or book?

There are two sides to any piece of writing. The first is the message, idea, or story. The other side is the craft of stringing words together into sentences and using sentences to build paragraphs. Adept writing flows smoothy and makes sense. Readers shouldn’t have to stop and dissect sentences or get hung up on words that are repetitive or confusing.

Which is why word choice is such an important skill for any writer to possess.

Common Word-Choice Mistakes

The right word can make or break a sentence. If we want our prose to be rich, vibrant, and meaningful, then we need to develop a robust vocabulary. As we write, revise, and proofread, there are plenty of common word-choice mistakes to watch out for. If we can catch those mistakes and fix them, we’ll end up with better writing.

Here are some word-choice to mistakes to watch out for in your writing:

Repetition: When the same words and phrases are repeated in a short space, they act like clichés, becoming tiresome and meaningless. Some words have to be repeated, especially articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. If we’re writing a story set on a submarine, the word submarine (or sub ) will get repeated frequently. That’s to be expected. However, repetitive descriptive words get monotonous. Every girl is pretty , every stride is long , everybody taps their keyboards. The fix: look for words that can be replaced with synonyms or alternative wording and avoid using the same descriptive words over and over again.

Connotation: With all the synonyms available, choosing the right word can be a challenge. Each word has a meaning, but most words also have connotations, which skew the meaning in a particular direction. Connotations are implied or emotional undertones that flavor a word’s meaning. If your character is going home , there is a much different implication than if the character is going to her house . The fix: when choosing synonyms, consider the connotation and emotional flavor of each option.

Precision: The best word choices are specific. One word might be vague and nondescript while another is vivid and descriptive. Consider the following sentences:

He wrote a poem on a piece of paper. He wrote a poem on a sheet of vellum.

The second sentence is more visual because the word choice ( vellum ) is more precise. The fix: whenever possible, choose the most precise word available.

Simplicity: Readers don’t want to have to run to the dictionary to get through a page of your writing, and most don’t appreciate the haughtiness that erudite writing evokes. If you’re writing to a highbrow audience, then by all means, feel free to pontificate, but to reach a wider audience, make your language accessible. The fix: check your text for rare and long words, and if you can replace them with more common or shorter words, do it.

Musicality: Sometimes, word choice comes down to musicality. How does one word sound in your sentence as opposed to another? If you’re trying to choose between words like bin and container , you might make your decision based on which word sounds better in the sentence. The fix: read sentences and paragraphs aloud to see how different words sound.

Thoughtful Word Choices for Better Writing

Whether you agonize over word choice while you’re drafting or during revisions, there are some incredibly useful tools for making word choice a breeze. In addition to using the tools that are at your disposal, consistently working to expand your vocabulary will do wonders for improving your language and word-choice skills:

• The thesaurus and the dictionary are your friends. Use them (especially the thesaurus).
• Read voraciously. Nothing will improve your writing and your vocabulary as well as the simple act of reading.
• Read and write poetry. Poems are full of vivacious words. You’ll develop a knack for word choice and grow a bountiful vocabulary if you study a little poetry.
• Play word games like Scrabble , Scattergories , and Words with Friends , which force you to actively use your vocabulary.
• Sign up for Word of the Day and commit to learning 365 words over the next year.

Have you ever gotten frustrated by reading a book that was peppered with poor word choices? Do you make a conscious effort to use the right words in your writing? How far will you go to find the perfect word for a sentence? Share your thoughts on how thoughtful word choices result in better writing by leaving a comment, and keep writing!

16 Comments

Thanks so much for this article. Though I actually did a few semesters of grad school, I still easily get caught up in several of the traps you mentioned. Nothing like a good guide in front of you to help you out.

Sometimes I get so caught up in writing a scene or conveying a particular message that I forget to think about word choice. That’s why I’m so glad I always get a chance to revise my work.

@Melissa Yes I have read plenty of sentences that I had to read over and over and over again, simply to crack the case of what it was attempting to say. As a reward, this has made me very aware of how critical word choice is. That is why I am so eager to improve my writing skills. In addition to not knowing the basics (what conjunctions and prepositions are), I could really use a lesson or two in word choice, descriptive writing, and an expansion in my vocab. I have supposedly been expanding my vocabulary for a while now, until I realized it could not be done without reading (misunderstanding the syntax and vocab; just to name a few reasons why I absolutely hate reading). So, I began to read, and I find myself hung-up on what I view to be very basic words, and it annoys the crap out of me. I have signed up for the word of the day on dictionary.com, but it seems that it goes through one side of the brain, and right out the other side that doesn’t care to process language. Lol! At the very most, I’ll recall having it as a word of the day, when I see it written in a book somewhere. I will not remember the definition. Strengths: repetition; simplicity; and musicality. Weaknesses: Have never given connotations any consideration. .just the denotative (underlying meaning); and precision (what I like to refer to as descriptive/visual writing). Please help! What are other ways can I expand my vocab and unlock the doors on the cell gate, that holds my creativity in captivity? As some would call it, “I would love to have my ‘creative juices’ flowing.” Thank you, in advance!

My suggestion is to keep a vocabulary journal. Keep reading and when you come across a word you don’t know, write it down in your vocabulary journal along with the definition. Then, once a week or once a month, read through the latest entries. I like word-of-the-day too, but the words are usually rare ones that don’t get used often. My other suggestion is to read poetry. It will do wonders for your vocabulary and learning about the nuances of word choice. Sound and Sense is a bit pricey but it’s my top recommendation for learning words and literary devices. Good luck to you!

This was very helpful and updated, I have two books I use which are also great; Writer’s First Aid By Kristi Holl and On Writing Well by William Zinsser. Both are available at amazon.com; however, I plan on subscribing here right after this post is successfully processed. This is a wonderful tool for all writers searching for ways to improve their craft.

Thanks, Robin, for your book recommendations and for subscribing. Keep writing!

Could I just hug you, Melissa? #HUGSSS

I am grinning WIDE after reading this ah-mazing post! Words seduce, strengthen and stimulate me, and hence I am committed to honing my writing skills.

I do have a Word a Day blog wherein I post an eclectic collection of words – some easy, some hard, some musical, some plain, some common, some uncommon – not every word can be used in our daily lives, but it gives me great joy to share my love for words with everyone!

Thank you so much #HUGS

Much love Kit

Hi Krithika,

Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Words can be magical and fascinating, and they are the building blocks of our craft, so it’s important for us to embrace them. Keep writing!

This is beautiful. I constantly tell people all the time word economy is one of the most important things in writing. If you can say it in a simpler and more visual manner,your readers will love you for it. I think the importance of the word choice and structure isn’t just about what’s being said but also momentum. People try to make things sound so poetic all the time which either 1) bores the reader if done incorrectly or 2) confuses them. That is why I try to write simple yet powerful sentences by choosing the correct words.

Logan, I agree one hundred percent! Even in poetry, word economy usually leads to a more compelling piece than a lot of excessive, unnecessary language, which only serves to weigh down the text.

There is a word (a single word, not a phrase, not the word diction) that means to agonize over word choice, but I have forgotten this word. Does anyone here know this term. Thank you in advance.

I’m not sure, but you might try Google or the thesaurus.

Great tips! Sharing…

Thanks, Bette!

Melissa, I totally agree with you on this article. Building an extensive vocabulary has had a huge effect on my writing ability. In the beginning stages of my craft, I struggled with finding the right words to enhance the narratives in the stories I wrote. I have to admit that in those days I encountered the most strenuous growing pains ever. Fortunately, those times are no more and I can say that I am grateful for rising to the occasion. Thank you for sharing this post.

You’re welcome, Derrick. I’m glad you found this article worthwhile.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

• Top Picks Thursday! For Writers & Readers 06-13-2019 | The Author Chronicles - […] Linda Yezak explains past continuous and past perfect verb tenses, Melissa Donovan guides us in making the right word…

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Subscribe and get The Writer’s Creed graphic e-booklet, plus a weekly digest with the latest articles on writing, as well as special offers and exclusive content.

Recent Posts

• Writing Tips For Staying on Your Game
• Writing Resources: Bird by Bird
• Punctuation Marks: The Serial Comma
• Getting Creative with Essay Writing
• Tips for Crafting Language

Write on, shine on!

Pin It on Pinterest

Word Choice

What this handout is about.

This handout can help you revise your papers for word-level clarity, eliminate wordiness and avoid clichés, find the words that best express your ideas, and choose words that suit an academic audience.

Introduction

Writing is a series of choices. As you work on a paper, you choose your topic, your approach, your sources, and your thesis; when it’s time to write, you have to choose the words you will use to express your ideas and decide how you will arrange those words into sentences and paragraphs. As you revise your draft, you make more choices. You might ask yourself, “Is this really what I mean?” or “Will readers understand this?” or “Does this sound good?” Finding words that capture your meaning and convey that meaning to your readers is challenging. When your instructors write things like “awkward,” “vague,” or “wordy” on your draft, they are letting you know that they want you to work on word choice. This handout will explain some common issues related to word choice and give you strategies for choosing the best words as you revise your drafts.

As you read further into the handout, keep in mind that it can sometimes take more time to “save” words from your original sentence than to write a brand new sentence to convey the same meaning or idea. Don’t be too attached to what you’ve already written; if you are willing to start a sentence fresh, you may be able to choose words with greater clarity.

For tips on making more substantial revisions, take a look at our handouts on reorganizing drafts and revising drafts .

“Awkward,” “vague,” and “unclear” word choice

So: you write a paper that makes perfect sense to you, but it comes back with “awkward” scribbled throughout the margins. Why, you wonder, are instructors so fond of terms like “awkward”? Most instructors use terms like this to draw your attention to sentences they had trouble understanding and to encourage you to rewrite those sentences more clearly.

Difficulties with word choice aren’t the only cause of awkwardness, vagueness, or other problems with clarity. Sometimes a sentence is hard to follow because there is a grammatical problem with it or because of the syntax (the way the words and phrases are put together). Here’s an example: “Having finished with studying, the pizza was quickly eaten.” This sentence isn’t hard to understand because of the words I chose—everybody knows what studying, pizza, and eating are. The problem here is that readers will naturally assume that first bit of the sentence “(Having finished with studying”) goes with the next noun that follows it—which, in this case, is “the pizza”! It doesn’t make a lot of sense to imply that the pizza was studying. What I was actually trying to express was something more like this: “Having finished with studying, the students quickly ate the pizza.” If you have a sentence that has been marked “awkward,” “vague,” or “unclear,” try to think about it from a reader’s point of view—see if you can tell where it changes direction or leaves out important information.

Sometimes, though, problems with clarity are a matter of word choice. See if you recognize any of these issues:

• Misused words —the word doesn’t actually mean what the writer thinks it does. Example : Cree Indians were a monotonous culture until French and British settlers arrived. Revision: Cree Indians were a homogenous culture.
• Words with unwanted connotations or meanings. Example : I sprayed the ants in their private places. Revision: I sprayed the ants in their hiding places.
• Using a pronoun when readers can’t tell whom/what it refers to. Example : My cousin Jake hugged my brother Trey, even though he didn’t like him very much. Revision: My cousin Jake hugged my brother Trey, even though Jake doesn’t like Trey very much.
• Jargon or technical terms that make readers work unnecessarily hard. Maybe you need to use some of these words because they are important terms in your field, but don’t throw them in just to “sound smart.” Example : The dialectical interface between neo-Platonists and anti-disestablishment Catholics offers an algorithm for deontological thought. Revision : The dialogue between neo-Platonists and certain Catholic thinkers is a model for deontological thought.
• Loaded language. Sometimes we as writers know what we mean by a certain word, but we haven’t ever spelled that out for readers. We rely too heavily on that word, perhaps repeating it often, without clarifying what we are talking about. Example : Society teaches young girls that beauty is their most important quality. In order to prevent eating disorders and other health problems, we must change society. Revision : Contemporary American popular media, like magazines and movies, teach young girls that beauty is their most important quality. In order to prevent eating disorders and other health problems, we must change the images and role models girls are offered.

Sometimes the problem isn’t choosing exactly the right word to express an idea—it’s being “wordy,” or using words that your reader may regard as “extra” or inefficient. Take a look at the following list for some examples. On the left are some phrases that use three, four, or more words where fewer will do; on the right are some shorter substitutes:

Keep an eye out for wordy constructions in your writing and see if you can replace them with more concise words or phrases.

In academic writing, it’s a good idea to limit your use of clichés. Clichés are catchy little phrases so frequently used that they have become trite, corny, or annoying. They are problematic because their overuse has diminished their impact and because they require several words where just one would do.

The main way to avoid clichés is first to recognize them and then to create shorter, fresher equivalents. Ask yourself if there is one word that means the same thing as the cliché. If there isn’t, can you use two or three words to state the idea your own way? Below you will see five common clichés, with some alternatives to their right. As a challenge, see how many alternatives you can create for the final two examples.

Try these yourself:

Writing for an academic audience

When you choose words to express your ideas, you have to think not only about what makes sense and sounds best to you, but what will make sense and sound best to your readers. Thinking about your audience and their expectations will help you make decisions about word choice.

Some writers think that academic audiences expect them to “sound smart” by using big or technical words. But the most important goal of academic writing is not to sound smart—it is to communicate an argument or information clearly and convincingly. It is true that academic writing has a certain style of its own and that you, as a student, are beginning to learn to read and write in that style. You may find yourself using words and grammatical constructions that you didn’t use in your high school writing. The danger is that if you consciously set out to “sound smart” and use words or structures that are very unfamiliar to you, you may produce sentences that your readers can’t understand.

When writing for your professors, think simplicity. Using simple words does not indicate simple thoughts. In an academic argument paper, what makes the thesis and argument sophisticated are the connections presented in simple, clear language.

Keep in mind, though, that simple and clear doesn’t necessarily mean casual. Most instructors will not be pleased if your paper looks like an instant message or an email to a friend. It’s usually best to avoid slang and colloquialisms. Take a look at this example and ask yourself how a professor would probably respond to it if it were the thesis statement of a paper: “Moulin Rouge really bit because the singing sucked and the costume colors were nasty, KWIM?”

Selecting and using key terms

When writing academic papers, it is often helpful to find key terms and use them within your paper as well as in your thesis. This section comments on the crucial difference between repetition and redundancy of terms and works through an example of using key terms in a thesis statement.

Repetition vs. redundancy

These two phenomena are not necessarily the same. Repetition can be a good thing. Sometimes we have to use our key terms several times within a paper, especially in topic sentences. Sometimes there is simply no substitute for the key terms, and selecting a weaker term as a synonym can do more harm than good. Repeating key terms emphasizes important points and signals to the reader that the argument is still being supported. This kind of repetition can give your paper cohesion and is done by conscious choice.

In contrast, if you find yourself frustrated, tiredly repeating the same nouns, verbs, or adjectives, or making the same point over and over, you are probably being redundant. In this case, you are swimming aimlessly around the same points because you have not decided what your argument really is or because you are truly fatigued and clarity escapes you. Refer to the “Strategies” section below for ideas on revising for redundancy.

Building clear thesis statements

Writing clear sentences is important throughout your writing. For the purposes of this handout, let’s focus on the thesis statement—one of the most important sentences in academic argument papers. You can apply these ideas to other sentences in your papers.

A common problem with writing good thesis statements is finding the words that best capture both the important elements and the significance of the essay’s argument. It is not always easy to condense several paragraphs or several pages into concise key terms that, when combined in one sentence, can effectively describe the argument.

However, taking the time to find the right words offers writers a significant edge. Concise and appropriate terms will help both the writer and the reader keep track of what the essay will show and how it will show it. Graders, in particular, like to see clearly stated thesis statements. (For more on thesis statements in general, please refer to our handout .)

Example : You’ve been assigned to write an essay that contrasts the river and shore scenes in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. You work on it for several days, producing three versions of your thesis:

Version 1 : There are many important river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn.

Version 2 : The contrasting river and shore scenes in Huckleberry Finn suggest a return to nature.

Version 3 : Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

Let’s consider the word choice issues in these statements. In Version 1, the word “important”—like “interesting”—is both overused and vague; it suggests that the author has an opinion but gives very little indication about the framework of that opinion. As a result, your reader knows only that you’re going to talk about river and shore scenes, but not what you’re going to say. Version 2 is an improvement: the words “return to nature” give your reader a better idea where the paper is headed. On the other hand, they still do not know how this return to nature is crucial to your understanding of the novel.

Finally, you come up with Version 3, which is a stronger thesis because it offers a sophisticated argument and the key terms used to make this argument are clear. At least three key terms or concepts are evident: the contrast between river and shore scenes, a return to nature, and American democratic ideals.

By itself, a key term is merely a topic—an element of the argument but not the argument itself. The argument, then, becomes clear to the reader through the way in which you combine key terms.

Strategies for successful word choice

• Be careful when using words you are unfamiliar with. Look at how they are used in context and check their dictionary definitions.
• Be careful when using the thesaurus. Each word listed as a synonym for the word you’re looking up may have its own unique connotations or shades of meaning. Use a dictionary to be sure the synonym you are considering really fits what you are trying to say.
• Under the present conditions of our society, marriage practices generally demonstrate a high degree of homogeneity.
• In our culture, people tend to marry others who are like themselves. (Longman, p. 452)
• Before you revise for accurate and strong adjectives, make sure you are first using accurate and strong nouns and verbs. For example, if you were revising the sentence “This is a good book that tells about the Revolutionary War,” think about whether “book” and “tells” are as strong as they could be before you worry about “good.” (A stronger sentence might read “The novel describes the experiences of a soldier during the Revolutionary War.” “Novel” tells us what kind of book it is, and “describes” tells us more about how the book communicates information.)
• Try the slash/option technique, which is like brainstorming as you write. When you get stuck, write out two or more choices for a questionable word or a confusing sentence, e.g., “questionable/inaccurate/vague/inappropriate.” Pick the word that best indicates your meaning or combine different terms to say what you mean.
• Look for repetition. When you find it, decide if it is “good” repetition (using key terms that are crucial and helpful to meaning) or “bad” repetition (redundancy or laziness in reusing words).
• Write your thesis in five different ways. Make five different versions of your thesis sentence. Compose five sentences that express your argument. Try to come up with four alternatives to the thesis sentence you’ve already written. Find five possible ways to communicate your argument in one sentence to your reader. (We’ve just used this technique—which of the last five sentences do you prefer?)Whenever we write a sentence we make choices. Some are less obvious than others, so that it can often feel like we’ve written the sentence the only way we know how. By writing out five different versions of your thesis, you can begin to see your range of choices. The final version may be a combination of phrasings and words from all five versions, or the one version that says it best. By literally spelling out some possibilities for yourself, you will be able to make better decisions.
• Read your paper out loud and at… a… slow… pace. You can do this alone or with a friend, roommate, TA, etc. When read out loud, your written words should make sense to both you and other listeners. If a sentence seems confusing, rewrite it to make the meaning clear.
• Instead of reading the paper itself, put it down and just talk through your argument as concisely as you can. If your listener quickly and easily comprehends your essay’s main point and significance, you should then make sure that your written words are as clear as your oral presentation was. If, on the other hand, your listener keeps asking for clarification, you will need to work on finding the right terms for your essay. If you do this in exchange with a friend or classmate, rest assured that whether you are the talker or the listener, your articulation skills will develop.
• Have someone not familiar with the issue read the paper and point out words or sentences they find confusing. Do not brush off this reader’s confusion by assuming they simply doesn’t know enough about the topic. Instead, rewrite the sentences so that your “outsider” reader can follow along at all times.
• Check out the Writing Center’s handouts on style , passive voice , and proofreading for more tips.

Questions to ask yourself

• Am I sure what each word I use really means? Am I positive, or should I look it up?
• Have I found the best word or just settled for the most obvious, or the easiest, one?
• Am I trying too hard to impress my reader?
• What’s the easiest way to write this sentence? (Sometimes it helps to answer this question by trying it out loud. How would you say it to someone?)
• What are the key terms of my argument?
• Can I outline out my argument using only these key terms? What others do I need? Which do I not need?
• Have I created my own terms, or have I simply borrowed what looked like key ones from the assignment? If I’ve borrowed the terms, can I find better ones in my own vocabulary, the texts, my notes, the dictionary, or the thesaurus to make myself clearer?
• Are my key terms too specific? (Do they cover the entire range of my argument?) Can I think of specific examples from my sources that fall under the key term?
• Are my key terms too vague? (Do they cover more than the range of my argument?)

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Cook, Claire Kehrwald. 1985. Line by Line: How to Improve Your Own Writing . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Grossman, Ellie. 1997. The Grammatically Correct Handbook: A Lively and Unorthodox Review of Common English for the Linguistically Challenged . New York: Hyperion.

Houghton Mifflin. 1996. The American Heritage Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

O’Conner, Patricia. 2010. Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English , 3rd ed. New York: Penguin Publishing Group.

Tarshis, Barry. 1998. How to Be Your Own Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes . New York: Three Rivers Press.

Williams, Joseph, and Joseph Bizup. 2017. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace , 12th ed. Boston: Pearson.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to footer

Enchanting Marketing

Writing advice for small business

Word Choice: How to Play With Words (and Find Your Voice)

by Henneke | 68 enchanting opinions, add yours? :)

G ood word choice is about precision and personality; the words you choose help define your voice.

This article discusses:

How word choice shapes your voice

You’ve buckled down to write your content. You’re proud of your ideas.

But when you read your draft … it kind of sucks. A spark is missing. The content sounds blah. It doesn’t sound like you at all.

Makes you want to cry?

Cultivating an engaging voice may feel like an arduous, perhaps even painful journey.

But when you nurture a sense of play, that excruciating journey turns into a fun adventure.

While experimenting with words, you’ll find your voice. And when you’ve found your voice, your content stands out in a drab sea of grey words. Fierce. And proud.

Want to know how to have fun with words and find your voice ?

Why word choice can feel tricky

Most of us tend to choose safe words—the words popping in our mind first. These are the words everyone is using.

Everyday language is a good idea, because readers can quickly grasp your ideas. But when you use only everyday language, your content doesn’t stand out. You sound like everyone else. Your content lacks sparkle.

Writing is different from talking. When we speak we use hand gestures and facial expressions to add emotion and meaning to our words. But when we write, we can’t wink, we can’t smile, we can’t slam the table, and we can’t put our hands up in the air.

So, our written words have to work harder. Our words have to whisper or shout. Our words have to attract attention and engage. Our words have to express emotion.

This is why you need to infuse your writing with more emotional words, with colorful language, with a sensory touch. You need to push yourself gently outside your comfort zone and play with different words.

Examples of word choice

Have you ever studied how others choose their words?

And have you noticed how their words give you an impression of their personality?

Below follow snippets from a sales page for a fitness book of DragonDoor . What type of personality comes across?

• How to construct a barn door back—and walk with loaded guns
• How to take a trip to hell—and steal a Satanic six-pack
• How to guarantee steel rod fingers
• Time to deliver the final bullet to those aching muscles: the Crucifix pull—brilliant and very painful!

The DragonDoor copy uses strong sensory and emotional words like “loaded guns,” “bullet,” “trip to hell,” “Satanic,” and “steel rod.”

Now, let’s compare this to a sales page for a yoga teaching class of Balance Yoga and Wellness . Try to imagine the type of teacher who’s written this:

• Heart-centered yoga: Learn the foundations of Anusara yoga, including the loops and spirals, universal principles and more.
• Balance your body and mind: Learn and apply ayurvedic principles to your diet and lifestyle so you get healthier and happier. Improve your sleep and digestion so your energy invigorates your students and others around you.
• Spark your creativity: Make your own mala bracelets, eye pillows, clay models, and yantras. Tapping into your creative center will help to infuse a sense of playfulness into your teaching.

This copy uses softer and more positive words like “invigorate,” “heart-centered,” “spark,” “balance,” “healthier,” “happier,” and “tap into.”

Choosing your words isn’t just about being precise and concise. The words you choose also give an impression of your personality; they define your voice.

How do you want to come across? How do you want to interact with your audience?

Below follow four questions to consider when considering how words shape your voice.

1. Do you use jargon or everyday language?

Whether you want to use jargon or not mainly depends on the experience of your readers. Do they understand your technical terms?

DragonDoor uses some technical language like “pecs,” “hanging straight leg raises,” “stand-to-stand bridges,” and “progressive calisthenics.” For instance:

Balance Yoga and Wellness also assumes you know basic yoga terms:

When considering your word choice, consider your audience. Which words would they use? Do they understand technical language and jargon? Also, consider whether your audience would appreciate slang or not.

2. Do you appeal to negative or positive emotions?

Positive or negative word choice has a big impact on how readers perceive your voice and your personality.

DragonDoor, for instance, addresses readers’ fears of doing things wrong or acting like a “baby-weight pumper” or “wannabee.” They might make you feel insecure:

• Do you make this stupid mistake with your push ups? This is wrong, wrong, wrong!
• This little fella will really separate the iron men from the baby-weight pumpers!
• These Gecko pushups truly separate the wannabees from the real thing
• Obey these important caveats before you start bridging—or risk injury
• The dumb, fickle, want-it-yesterday way to fail in your long term Convict Conditioning training

Balance Yoga and Wellness uses a positive tone of encouragement instead:

Do you want to agitate and stir up fear? Or comfort, encourage, and soothe? How positive do you want to sound?

3. Do you use strong or subtle sensory words?

DragonDoor uses strong language, borrowing terminology from prisons and war:

• One crucial reason why a lot of convicts deliberately avoid weight-training
• Bar pulls—an old convict favorite for good reason
• How to effectively bulletproof the vulnerable rotator cuff muscles
• Transform skinny legs into pillars of power, complete with steel cord quads, rock-hard glutes and thick, shapely calves

The copy of Balance Yoga and Wellness strikes a warmer tone:

Are you astonished how much your life has improved since you stepped into your first yoga class?

You gained strength, flexibility and fitness. You tapped into a deep calmness, and experienced a new sense of peace and inner beauty.

Now, what’s next?

(…) Our Teacher Training helps you nourish a deeper understanding of yoga, delve into human anatomy, and gain the confidence to share the magic of yoga with your friends and family and community.

How do you spice up your content? With fight analogies? Or cooking metaphors? With hints of seduction? Or warmongering?

4. How much curiosity do you arouse?

DragonDoor arouses curiosity with phrases like “little-known ways,” “a dormant superpower,” and a “jealously-guarded system:”

• The dormant superpower for muscle growth waiting to be released if you only do this
• Try this little-known way to make stand-to-stand bridges harder and increasingly more explosive without adding any external resistance
• A jealously-guarded system for going from puny to powerful—when your life may depend on the speed of your results

The copy of Balance Yoga and Wellness is more straightforward about what you’ll learn and why:

• Sequence a yoga class: Use creativity and knowledge of yoga postures to develop a balanced yoga class.
• Use language effectively: Learn effective verbal cues for leading a yoga class.
• Breakdown key yoga postures: Talk students into and out of yoga postures, what the fundamental alignment cues are for each postures.
• Teach safely: Appreciate how our anatomy impacts different types of yoga postures, and learn how to modify yoga postures to avoid injury.

Curiosity-arousing phrases change the tone of your writing. Moreover, curiosity can nudge readers to take action—to satisfy their curiosity.

But it’s a fine balance as too much curiosity arousal can make your content flimsy, pushy, and hypey. In contrast, pairing benefits with features makes your content more substantial, straightforward, and honest.

A word choice exercise: Get out of a writing funk

Ready to explore your voice?

And play with different words?

Try the exercise below and experiment with your word choice. Try to impersonate different personalities. Also, pay attention to how your voice changes when you borrow phrases from, for instance, cooking, fighting, dating, or sports.

Word choice exercise

Complete the following sentence:

The standard, drab version:

The power-puncher:

Another strong-armed copywriter:

The competitor:

The sparkling personality:

The seductress:

The sensory cook:

The quiet rebel:

Have fun with as many options as you like. Leave the options percolating overnight, and choose a favorite the next day. Consider adding your mission statement to your social media bios and About page.

Playing with words is like trying new clothes

Pick up a different style, try it on, and see how it looks in the mirror.

Does that jacket make you feel confident? Does that fuchsia scarf make you feel more creative? Wanna try a bolder style? Or a different color?

Playing with words puts the fun back into writing.

It enlivens our copy. And invigorates our soul.

FREE 22-page ebook How to Choose Words With Power and Pizzazz

• Discover 4 wordy rules for captivating your audience
• Learn how to fortify and energize your message
• Get examples that show you how to spice up your writing

PS Thank you to Darren DeMatas of Selfstartr for inspiring this post.

Further reading on word choice:

Enjoyed this get my fortnightly newsletter in your inbox > > >, get my best writing tips in your inbox ....

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment and join the conversation cancel reply.

April 10, 2023 at 3:26 am

I’m finding it very difficult to put into practice. I’m not coming up with different phrases and words to try different personalities.

April 10, 2023 at 12:41 pm

Try using a thesaurus or dictionary.

Also, it helps to pay attention to how others write and which words they use. When you start to see how others choose their words and how that helps define their voice, it becomes easier to play with your own voice, too. Look for the authors you like and the ones you don’t like. What’s the difference in their word choice? Which writers do you think have a strong voice? Which words do they use? The more you read and the more attention you pay to what you read, the better your writing will become.

Lastly, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Try to nurture a sense of play.

July 1, 2022 at 3:57 pm

You’ve shown in the article with clear examples how a writer can choose and play with words to express his writing voice. It’s praise worthy, I do appreciate.

July 1, 2022 at 4:27 pm

I’m glad you like it, Tajammul. Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it!

January 10, 2022 at 12:15 am

Do you ever teach of writing present tense mindful sentences with the correct wording using the sensory words? I’m writing a book and would love to know if you can enlighten me?

January 10, 2022 at 12:11 pm

Hi Drenda, you can find my advice on using sensory words here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/sensory-words/

March 20, 2021 at 12:31 am

Henneke you and your content are awesome! <3 Thanks a lot!

March 21, 2021 at 5:01 pm

Thank you, Paulo. Happy writing!

February 23, 2020 at 12:14 pm

You a champ in your field! Please what posts of yours do you highly recommend I read to get a feel for writing? I’m just starting out. Thanks a million.

February 23, 2020 at 7:32 pm

Hi Solomon,

It depends what you want to write. For learning how to write blog posts, check out my best articles here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/business-blogging/ For learning how to write sales copy, check out the articles listed here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/sales-copy/

For general writing advice, start here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/how-to-improve-writing-skills/

I hope this helps!

July 31, 2018 at 4:37 am

One word: AWESOME

July 31, 2018 at 5:45 pm

Thank you, Carltee 😀

May 11, 2018 at 5:27 am

Very cool- and helpful!! Henceforth, I have no doubts renaming in your expertise! Sincere Thanks

May 11, 2018 at 9:59 am

Thank you. Happy writing!

April 21, 2018 at 6:50 pm

Thank you so much. I’m writing a memoir and really needed the comments and the 99 active verbs. Now I need to do some editing.

April 21, 2018 at 6:58 pm

I am glad you found it useful, Roxsane. Happy editing!

And thank you for stopping by.

February 16, 2018 at 9:00 pm

I don’t drink coffee but this is like writer’s coffee, keep them awake while writing. What a yummy read.

February 18, 2018 at 7:47 pm

I don’t drink coffee either!

I’m glad you enjoyed this, Susan. Thank you for stopping by.

January 10, 2018 at 8:11 am

Thank you. This article is motivating. I am concerned about my own blog posts, the energy I put into them and word choices. These tips have really helped me out

January 10, 2018 at 3:01 pm

I’m glad you’ve found these tips helpful, Latricia. Happy blogging!

May 31, 2017 at 9:46 am

Thanks. It stimulated the playful inner child of me. Writing should be a fun experience, rather than an agonizing stressor.

May 31, 2017 at 9:18 pm

Indeed! Happy playing & writing, Doran 🙂

April 3, 2017 at 9:47 am

That’s such an amazing, helpful and enjoyable post.Your examples are Excellent. word choices, use of positive and negative emotions are very important to give words your voice.. I really enjoyed reading your post…

April 3, 2017 at 8:59 pm

I’m glad you’ve found it both helpful and enjoyable, Mariah. Happy writing!

March 30, 2017 at 3:34 pm

Henneke great post.

Loved how you took one phrase of that exercise and turned it into many powerful alternatives.

Goes to show that words you choose really can help you stand out. Because like you said, you can’t express yourself with hand gestures, etc. so your words need to work for you.

Wow, I’m really impressed by this post. You keep on constantly out doing yourself.

– Andrew

March 30, 2017 at 7:36 pm

Ha yes! I do try to outdo myself. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does. I really enjoyed writing this one.

Thank you for stopping by again, Andrew. I appreciate it.

March 2, 2017 at 12:03 pm

I’m a copywriting ninja on a mission to dropkick crap content back to the 1980s!

March 2, 2017 at 6:56 pm

I like that! I can picture you dropkicking content. Great image 🙂

March 2, 2017 at 1:38 am

Hi Henneke, what a great post, a bit over my head in strength but loved the Yoga type of description, Not looking forward to writing posts, hope that I’ll get something interesting together. I am on the last leg now to get that website set up. Thanks for all the posts I may have read but not commented on, my book is in the last edit and will be available at the same time as the Website. It’s been a long journey, but have also been around the world three times which took a lot of my time.

March 2, 2017 at 6:53 pm

Great to hear that your book and website are both nearly finished, Annamarie. That’s fab news. Congrats!

Maybe you can consider a break from writing before you start writing blog posts so you can approach blog writing with replenished energy?

March 1, 2017 at 11:15 am

I’m not sure I’d like to be hanging out in the Dragon Door gym. I shudder to think what type of person would be exercising there 🙂

Thanks for the excellent examples, Henneke. Just goes to show how a few words can change the scene. – David

March 1, 2017 at 6:10 pm

You won’t find me in a DragonDoor gym either! Phew. Please no.

Thank you for stopping by, David. No heavy lifting required here 🙂

March 1, 2017 at 9:17 am

I write so fucking good my readers beg for more 😉 Yes, the positive, friendly support giver, that is you, with the sparkly tone.

March 1, 2017 at 6:08 pm

“I write so fucking good my readers beg for more”

That sounds like you 🙂

March 1, 2017 at 9:06 pm

?”And I’m also the most humble person you’ll ever meet” ?

March 1, 2017 at 9:54 pm

No, I’m not. Ha! No smiley needed.

March 1, 2017 at 10:00 pm

Ok. This is my totally serious face -> ? Nope. Sorry. Can’t help it ? When three of us “meet” in one place I’m always in good mood!

March 1, 2017 at 9:16 pm

It amazes me every time how you find the right words and examples to explain something as complicated as writing! I think it’s easier to explain how how to build a nuclear bomb than how to write so that it resonates. Because there are only so many ways to build a nuclear bomb, but there are as many ways to write well as there are people.

And of course the part with the exercise and the one-line examples is brilliant! Great to see how everyone started applying your advice immediately! I’d love to contribute my own, but I’ll need to think about it first. Fitting my thoughts inside one line is not exactly my strength, but I’m willing to learn 🙂

March 1, 2017 at 10:25 pm

Thank you for your lovely comment, Gill 🙂

My secret is not to try to explain how to write, but answer just one tiny question about writing like: How does word choice influence voice? That makes it more doable. 🙂

I can’t remember how I came across that website of DragonDoor (I’m not their target audience!) but because its word choice is so “extreme,” they seemed like a great example.

Don’t try to write the one-liner (or two-liner) in one go. Just play around with it. I can’t remember how long it took me to come up with “an irreverent copywriter on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook” – probably a few months! 😉

March 1, 2017 at 10:31 pm

“One tiny question for Henneke, one giant problem for humanity (of bloggers)” 🙂 I wouldn’t be able to explain that in a million years!

And yes, the fewer words one has to express something, the longer it takes. But I noticed one gets better at this with practice. This, and spending more time on Twitter with its 140 characters 🙂

March 1, 2017 at 2:09 am

Busy day; got here late today, but finally! Whew! I’m a grandmother I and rescue broken, wounded women desperately looking for someone with strength and knowledge, spiced with soft humor. I offer an enduring, hidden treasure, helping them see their way out of the pain of difficult situations, without physically walking away. You made me think about this all day. I was so sure I’d gotten it, but it sounds pretty salesy to me, still.

March 1, 2017 at 6:07 pm

It doesn’t sounds salesy at all. It sounds friendly and helpful. I like it. It’s a beautiful mission. Perhaps consider tightening it a little:

I’m a grandmother and I rescue broken, wounded women. I offer strength and knowledge, spiced with soft humor, to help them ease the pain of difficult situations.

March 2, 2017 at 7:35 am

Oh, yes, that’s better. Thank you! You know, if I read that and think you wrote it, instead of me, it is lots better in my mind. I guess it’s a trick we play on ourselves, making it nigh impossible to feel good about self-aggrandizement? As for tightness, you are right, but I used to say: “I fix broken women.” Embellishing got carried away. 😉 Thanks, again!

March 2, 2017 at 6:54 pm

Well, you wrote it; I simply crossed out a few words 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 10:13 pm

Henneke always produces such good material. If she made underpants for a living I’d rip my own off to read the label!

Thanks for another great post.

March 1, 2017 at 6:11 pm

Haha! I’m not planning to manufacture underpants. Not yet. 😉

February 28, 2017 at 6:51 pm

The minute I saw this pop in my inbox, I couldn’t help but click to read.

Tip: Just as hand gestures and facial expressions add meaning to our words when talking, icons and punctuation marks [can] also help drive home our point when writing

This is a post to study and it’s brilliant.

Thanks for sharing Henneke.

February 28, 2017 at 9:19 pm

Yep, that’s a good point about icons and punctuation, and it’s true for formatting, too. Putting a sentence on its own in one paragraph is also a way to add stress.

Thank you for adding your thoughts, Hannah. I appreciate it 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 4:53 pm

Salute to Henneke,

Words are the fiery swords which slice through mediocrity and open up revolutionary worlds. so sayeth Dragon Girl aka C A Holmes (writing my Scottish tales at the moment)

February 28, 2017 at 5:08 pm

Thank you … what an honor to find such a lovely poem here.

I hope you’re enjoying writing your Scottish tales, Dragon Girl 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 4:17 pm

At the very least you sold me on Convict Conditioning … and writing sales-boosting copy so powerful I can give the competition the middle finger!

February 28, 2017 at 5:05 pm

Be careful with those one-arm handstand pushups, Jeff! 😉

February 28, 2017 at 4:08 pm

Concrete and tangible.

Your examples are so real that my muscles hurt from the exertion of imagining DragonDoor only to be soothed by visualizing Balance Yoga. It’s the perfect yin yang combination. The distinction is quite palpable.

Not to mention loads of fun.

Something you’ve long trained me to expect from your weekly posts.

Useful and fun with a sprinkle of serendipity and a spark of singularity.

February 28, 2017 at 5:02 pm

Selecting these examples from DragonDoor sure made my body hurt!

Thank you for your lovely comment, Lori. I appreciate it 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 3:28 pm

Hi Henneke, I liked this last one best: “I’m an irreverent copywriter on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook.” I bet she’s awesome. {:-)

February 28, 2017 at 5:01 pm

I’d like to meet her, too 😉

Thank you, Rohi!

February 28, 2017 at 3:23 pm

For a quiet rebel , you sure kick butt with this post !

Thank you, Ray. Your comment made me laugh 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 2:29 pm

Hi Henneke,

I read lots of newsletters / blogs of ‘experts’ in the field… but none of them can beat you. I don’t know how you do it, but please keep doing it! Excellent examples again. I’ll start practicing right away. Thank you for the eye-openers and keep ’em coming please!

February 28, 2017 at 4:59 pm

What a lovely comment. Thank you, Olga!

I hope you have fun with your writing. And don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep them coming 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 1:38 pm

Surprise, surprise … another helpful and genuinely enjoyable post!

I particularly liked “Do you use jargon or everyday language?” and the section on curiosity.

And wow, those examples at the end for writers to frame themselves: priceless!

February 28, 2017 at 4:57 pm

I’m glad you enjoyed it, Aaron. That means a lot to me 🙂

Thank you for stopping by and for tweeting!

February 28, 2017 at 1:27 pm

That’s the clearest idea of “voice” I’ve ever had. Your wonderful examples of contrasting voices makes that squishy concept so concrete. And now I need to figure out how to bullet-proof my rotator cuffs…

February 28, 2017 at 4:49 pm

I still need to figure out where my rotator cuffs are before I can bulletproof mine 😉

Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely compliment!

February 28, 2017 at 12:41 pm

I particularly love how you turned the copywriting example into eight different ‘personalities’. Such a great example! Interesting to think about what you want to portray. I might try doing a writing exercise and write down how I want to come across… and what descriptive words go with that to help get jump started.

February 28, 2017 at 4:48 pm

You might also find it useful to do the opposite of what you want to describe. That’s a fun way to warm-up your writing muscles, too 🙂

February 28, 2017 at 12:11 pm

That’s such an amazing read!! Impressive! couldn’t wait to do the exercise…

I am Tavleen. I craft an empathetic brand narrative that positions you as the go-to in your niche. And not just another ‘player‘ in the market.

February 28, 2017 at 4:47 pm

Thank you for your lovely comment, Tavleen.

Glad to see you started on the exercise straightaway! 🙂

Books and courses

Follow proven templates for specific writing tasks, practice your skills, and get professional feedback so you become a confident business writer. Take on any writing project with gusto. Learn more about books and courses

About Henneke

I never saw myself as a writer, but in my early forties, I learned how to write and discovered the joy of writing. Now, I’d like to empower you to find your voice, share your ideas and inspire your audience. Learn how I can help you

Popular topics

Sales copywriting

Blog writing for business

Your writing voice

Tips for beginning writers

The writing process

Improve your writing skills

Writing examples

Popular blog posts

Recent blog posts

Free Snackable Writing Course

Get 16 concise emails and learn how to write more persuasive content.

What is word choice, and why does it matter?

In our study, we learned that the words that writers choose have an effect on readers.

How do words communicate?

Words are the ground level of writing, and they can communicate confidence, carefulness, and consideration. By carefully selecting words, writers build their meanings from the ground up.

Let’s learn more about what goes into choosing words and the effects those choices can have.

What are generalities?

Words like “everyone” and “society” can be applied to a wide range of things, people, and ideas. They encourage readers to think in very general terms, or in generalities.

In this example, writer Sarah Zhang shows how a study applies broadly to people’s perception of race.

A 2014 study found that when people read a newspaper article about genetic-ancestry tests, their beliefs in racial differences increased.

In this example from the book, Shannon shows how widespread the effect of teaching is on children and society.

The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, so if we do not put great significance on the way in which teachers are chosen, children will be deprived of an effective education and won’t be able to handle society’s money

Words like “people” or “society” can be qualified with other words to soften or limit the range of application. Qualified generalities show readers that claims may not apply to everyone or everything—which invites other interpretations and possibilities.

In this example, Bill and Melinda Gates use qualified generalities to show a difference in people’s perceptions of poverty.

Primed by depressing and shocking headlines, most people assume that poverty has increased. Some people say it has held steady.

In this example from the book, Amanda uses a qualified generality to show that while Milton’s references tend to have “other underlying messages,” these other messages may not be obvious to today’s readers.

His references almost always have other underlying messages that a typical scholar of today must search for more deeply, but at the time were usually well known within the intellectual sphere. Images involving religion or classical mythology do not necessarily agree in today’s world, but they worked well for Milton to address multiple perspectives that his audience could comprehend no matter what they believed in.   [Less]

His references almost always have other underlying messages that a typical scholar of today must search for more deeply, but at the time were usually well known within the intellectual sphere.   [More]

His references almost always have other underlying messages that a typical scholar of today must search for more deeply, but at the time were usually well known within the intellectual sphere. Images involving religion or classical mythology do not necessarily agree in today’s world, but they worked well for Milton to address multiple perspectives that his audience could comprehend no matter what they believed in.  

What kinds of words do writers use to express generalities and qualified certainties?

Certainties are words that show readers how much confidence writers have in their claims. Writers who are confident about their claims and want to state them as generalities use boosters. Writers who are somewhat confident about their claims and want to leave room for other views use hedges.

Boosters are words that express complete certainty about claims. They require care in use, because while they give writing confidence, they can leave little to no room for others’ views. Examples of boosters include “clearly,” “definitely,” and “without a doubt.”

In this example, writer Melina Delcik uses a booster to express certainty about the value of a news story.

It was, without a doubt, the kind of breaking news The Times considers important to delve into quickly and thoroughly

In this example from the book, Owen uses a booster to expresses confidence about how to improve teaching in the United States.

This method would undeniably improve America’s educational system by replacing the bottom six to ten percent of public-school teachers that currently hinder it.

Hedges are words that express caution about our certainty. While hedges may sometimes give an impression of uncertainty, they can also open space for others’ views and interpretations. Examples of hedges include “perhaps,” “might,” and “possibly.”

In this example, author Nicholas Carr uses a hedge to express the possibility that critics who think the Internet is ruining us are right.

Perhaps those who dismiss critics of the Internet as Luddites or nostalgists will be proved correct, and from our hyperactive, data-stoked minds will spring a golden age of intellectual discovery and universal wisdom.

In this example from the book, the student uses a hedge to express doubt about Adam’s ability to achieve autonomy in the same way as other children.

Since Adam is suffering from FAS which will affect his life in every domain in significant ways, it will be unlikely that he will be able to achieve or will be expected by others to achieve autonomy as much as other children.

Words can have an effect on whether readers believe writers’ claims. Using boosters that express generalities can be convincing in some cases, but using hedges that express qualified generalities conveys more considerations for others’ perspectives and interpretations.

Related Content

• How do phrases and sentences create a reader experience?
• How can teachers help students make the most of writing instruction?

Class with Mason - School of Literary Studies

• Free Courses
• Job Prep Center
• Color-coded Translations
• Chart of Authors
• English Podcasts
• Sub Menu 01
• Sub Menu 02
• Sub Menu 03
• Sub Menu 04
• Sub Menu 05
• Guestpost: Write for Us
• Try RTL Mode
• Download this theme

How to Improve Word Choice with 20 Tips & Examples

References: Butcher, J., & Gardner, S. (1979). A handbook of modern journalism. London: Macmillan

Reach 100K+ monthly readers. Share your writings on Class with Mason. Submit Now!

Disclaimer: The content of this article/paper represents the sole opinions and viewpoints of the author and does not necessarily align with the editorial stance of Class with Mason

Ad-Blocker Detected!

Sorry, we detected that you have activated Ad-Blocker. Please consider supporting us by disabling your Ad-Blocker, it helps us in developing this Website. Thank you!

Improve your writing in one of the largest and most successful writing groups online

Join our writing group!

Word Choice: Master This Critical Writing Tool

by Fija Callaghan

Good writing has a way of singing on the page. Bad writing has a way of alienating the reader, and sometimes even causing offense without meaning to. Whether you’re writing fiction, poetry, essays, or academic papers, your specific choice of words—their style, impact, and connotative meaning—can make or break your connection with your audience.

In this article, we’ll take a deep look at what word choice means, some pitfalls to avoid in your writing, and how to choose the right word every time.

What is word choice in writing?

“Word choice” refers to the specific words a writer uses to create the most precise, persuasive, and engaging response possible. A skilled writer knows how to get the most out of their vocabulary and how to choose the best word for any readership. Word choice comes from elements like specificity, mood, writing style, and target audience.

We use word choice in daily life as well as writing. For instance, you might choose your words more carefully around someone you don’t know very well, or use more formal words in your workplace than with your friends. We choose different words when we’re talking to children than when we’re talking to adults, and we tend to use precise language in academic or technical writing.

Word choice means picking the exact best word for what we’re trying to say, and where and how we’re trying to say it.

Why is word choice so important to writers?

Precision is one of the most important tools we have available to us as writers. Some words may sound the same, but actually mean different things (like “affect” and “effect” ). Some words may have very similar meanings, but slightly different connotations when used in context (like “content” and “satisfied”).

When you find the perfect word to convey communicate encapsulate what you’re trying to say, you create a powerful connection with your reader.

On the other hand, if you use the wrong word, you can confuse your reader or even inadvertently cause offense. You may recognize this from misconstrued text messages or work emails. Incorrect words can also be vague and generalized, which keeps your reader at a distance. For example, if your character enters a “brightly glowing city,” that’s a bit more broad than looking up at a city that’s “luminescent.” The perfect word choice, particularly in fiction and poetry, can really bring a story to life.

Denotative vs. connotative word choice

When you’re considering which words to choose in a given situation, it can be helpful to think of it in terms of denotation and connotation . Denotation is a word’s literal dictionary definition: what it means according to the parameters set down by the English language. Connotation is more about its emotional impact—what it means “on the street,” or in everyday life.

For example, “hot” and “cold” are pretty straightforward dictionary definition words; they refer to temperature. But, they also have a range of hidden meanings around personality, attraction, and tension.

When you’re going over your writing, especially if you’re engaging in social or professional communication, double check that none of your word choices carry any secret, unwanted connotations.

Elements of word choice

Now that we understand word choices a bit better, let’s look at some of the elements that go into choosing just the right word.

1. Specificity

The English language is beautifully varied and precise. It can be argued that there are no true synonyms; every single word has a slightly different implied meaning. This means that while you might have a dozen or more words that can convey what you’re trying to say in a more-or-less general way, there might only be one word that perfectly captures your intended mood, meaning, and style.

Specificity comes from experience and mastery of language. As you expand your vocabulary, you’ll add more precise words to your toolbox to capture your reader’s attention.

2. Tone and mood

The right descriptive words and figurative language can amplify the overall mood and tone of a story . For example, a gothic story might use complex words that elicit images of dark passageways, moonless nights, and whispering petticoats. A romantic comedy, on the other hand, will use more colloquial English that feels bright, fun, and relatable.

This is a useful tool when you’re in your revision process; if you want to convey a particular mood to the overall narrative, go through and swap out select words with word choices that deepen the emotional impact of the prose.

3. Readership

Similar to tone and mood, this means choosing words that will resonate with your target audience. For instance, you’ll use very different word choices in a university-level thesis statement than you will in a middle-grade novel. In the former example, the wrong word choice can make you look unfocused and unprofessional. In the latter example, the wrong word choice can alienate your audience completely.

Likewise, using complex industry jargon in an article will limit your audience to people who already “speak” this language; however, it will land strongly with them because they’ll feel like you’re part of their tribe.

Whether you’re using formal language, technical terminology, or accessible storytelling for younger readers, choose words that the people you’re writing to will understand and relate to.

The way you structure your words in past, present, or future tense is a tricky skill for English learners to master. But, choosing the right word structure and narrative tense will make your writing read much more smoothly. These are details like can/could/could have or get/gotten/got. On the page, the difference is minuscule, but an incorrectly conjugated snag can break your reader’s connection with your story.

It also helps to be aware of language structures like active voice and passive voice —the way a sentence structures its subject and object in a moment of action. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered with our dedicated lesson on using active and passive voice !

5. Surprise

Finally, there’s no better way to create effective writing than to surprise your reader. When you’re writing descriptive language, see if you can come up with new ways of looking at the world that your reader hasn’t seen before. We’re all used to seeing the same metaphors, similes, and clichés in our favorite stories that we now tend to gloss over them when we read.

Instead of saying “the crescent moon was smiling,” what happens if you say “the moon was grimacing as if a hungry trucker had taken a bite out of it”? The reader sits up and pays attention, because now they can see your world clearly and vividly.

When you’re writing, and particularly when you’re revising, look for ways to breathe new life into your use of language.

Word choice traps to avoid

Now that we understand what goes into effective word choice, let’s look at some of the pitfalls new writers can fall into when choosing their words.

Commonly confused words

Even though the English language has a near-limitless reservoir of words to choose from, it has a shockingly limited choice of letters—only 26 for all those words!! That means that some words, by necessity, look or sound quite similar even though they have different meanings. This is where a lot of problems arise for new writers, particularly non-native speakers and young students.

Some commonly misused word choice examples include:

Affect and effect

Averse and adverse

Adversary and adversity

Accept and except

Elicit and illicit

Allusion and illusion

Their, there, and they’re

Your and you’re

And so forth. This is why it’s always a good idea to get editorial feedback if you’re not confident in your word choice skills.

Clichés are a natural part of exploring early writing. After all, we absorb them through the books we read and the conversations of our daily life. But, using clichés in your writing can suggest a lack of creativity, originality, and independent thought.

For example, telling your audience to “think outside the box” or describing a character as “dead as a doornail” are phrases your reader will have encountered many times before. Try using less common words to get your idea across. For instance, what else could a character be “dead as”? An aphid that stayed up late drinking weed killer? A 24-hour supermarket at 2am on a Tuesday night? If you catch yourself using a cliché, explore ways to give your writing a fresh voice.

Now with that being said, clichés can sometimes be useful for writing certain characters. For example, the villain of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys loves using clichés wherever possible. If you decide to use this device, make sure you’re doing it intentionally and with purpose—not because you’ve run out of ideas.

Overly dense vernacular

When you’re writing about something you’re excited about—whether that’s a thrilling story or an article about an important topic—it can be easy to lose sight of the person you’re actually writing for. In a niche article or a story that’s set in a secondary world, be careful not to inundate your reader with words they may not be familiar with.

If you’re writing for a very targeted readership—for instance, in an academic or scientific journal—it’s usually okay to use a bigger word that makes sense in that industry’s context. But if you’re writing for a general or younger audience, make sure to explain and contextualize words that may be unfamiliar to the average person.

Extraneous verbosity

By which I mean using seventeen words when one will do just fine . For example, “Upon further reflection, I have come to the conclusion that” instead of “I have decided.” Or, “Regardless of the rather unfortunate fact that” instead of “Although.”

Like clichés, verbosity (or pompous wordiness) can be a fun character trait to explore. In the examples above, you can probably imagine the sort of person who would take the time to say those things. But as with all rules, make sure you’re breaking them intentionally to serve a purpose in the story.

Tips for improving word choice in writing

Now, here are a few things you can keep in mind for using strong word choice to improve your written work.

Expand your vocabulary

Strong writers have strong vocabularies: fact. You’ll have a better chance of choosing the right words every time if you have a bank of strong, specific words to choose from.

The easiest way to do this is by reading— a lot . Challenge yourself to read new genres and new material, and make a note of any words you’re not familiar with. Then, see if you can incorporate them into your everyday life (in the immortal words of Tai Frasier, “I hope it’s not sporadically!” ). Try to learn a new word every day.

Have a thesaurus to hand

Thesauruses (thesauri?) can be a double-edged writing tool. On the one hand, it can tempt writers to use a bunch of unnecessary words that they simply don’t need (see extraneous verbosity, above); on the other hand, it can be a great way to find just the right word instead of a so-so word that’s kind of okay.

If you’ve reached a pivotal moment in your story and you want to pinpoint exactly how your character is feeling, try reaching for your thesaurus. Instead of “sad,” “bereft,” “disconsolate,” “dispirited,” or “anguished” might be more fitting for your protagonist’s particular moment of woe.

Get editorial feedback

Sometimes, the best way to know you’ve used the right word choice in writing is to get a second pair of eyes. An editor or beta reader can catch any unintentionally misused words or negative connotation and ensure everything comes across with the meaning the author intended. They’ll help you ensure your phrases and sentences flow smoothly and land in an emotionally powerful way.

Using effective words will make you a better writer

Word choice may be a tricky skill to master, but using the right words to get your point across will make a world of difference to the way your writing is perceived. Once you master word choice, you can work towards developing your own unique voice confidentially, succinctly, and accessibly.

Get feedback on your writing today!

Scribophile is a community of hundreds of thousands of writers from all over the world. Meet beta readers, get feedback on your writing, and become a better writer!

Join now for free

Related articles

Active vs. Passive Voice: What’s the Difference?

What is Tone? Definition, with Examples

What is a Motif? Definition and Examples

What Is Anachronism? 4 Types of Anachronism, with Examples from Literature

What Is Personification? Definition and Examples from Literature

How to Write Dialogue: Rules, Examples, and 8 Tips for Engaging Dialogue

The Quick ’n’ Dirty Guide to Great Word Choice

Do you wish your words commanded more attention? Are you concerned that your words aren’t understood the way you intend? Do you feel self-conscious about your “just okay” writing chops?

I’ve found that people can solve these problems almost overnight, simply by improving their word choice. Here’s how I recommend doing that.

Step 1: Commit to clarity.

In his short but remarkable essay called “How I Write,” Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell wrote,  “I do not find that I can improve a sentence when I am satisfied with what it means.”

That sentence conveys the number-one purpose of writing and, by extension, word choice: getting your point across! This means that great word choice is not about using fancy words, using a bunch of different words, or using weird words just for the heck of it. Great word choice is about making yourself clear.

My emphasis on committing to clarity stems from my personal experience as a writing coach. For most people, poor vocabulary is not the biggest hurdle. More often, people get themselves into the habit of using such complicated language that they themselves lose sight of what they’re trying to write down.

Trust me, hiding behind long words doesn’t make you seem smart. The best way to seem smart is to focus (really focus!) on being clear.

Paul Graham , a brainiac who co-founded Y Combinator, puts it neatly:

“Something comes over most people when they start writing. They write in a different language than they’d use if they were talking to a friend. The sentence structure and even the words are different. No one uses “pen” as a verb in spoken English. You’d feel like an idiot using “pen” instead of “write” in a conversation with a friend.”

I couldn’t have said it better! The first and most important step to choosing the right words is not getting distracted by the act of writing, and instead keeping your main idea in your sights, whether you’re writing  product descriptions , creative fiction, or anything in between.

Step 2: Choose your rules of thumb.

One cool thing about writing in the twenty-first century is that you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. In fact, many celebrated writers have openly disclosed their personal “rules of thumb” for writing. Thanks to them, almost anyone can become a better writer within a few days by applying what they’ve already figured out.

George Orwell’s rule of thumb: Use short words.

George Orwell’s  rule of thumb for word choice was, “Never use a long word when a short one will do.”

I find that even if everyone knows a long word, it still has a shorter sibling that’s clearer. It’s better to “use” than to “utilize”; a “plan” or “proposal” is better than a “proposition”; and “but” is (usually) better than “however.”

Stephen King’s rule of thumb: Beware of adverbs.

Stephen King  wrote, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” (Adverbs describe actions, and they usually end in -ly). King even provided examples, showing what happens when you add adverbs to dialogue that doesn’t need them.

Without adverbs:

’Put it down!’ she shouted.

’Give it back,’ he pleaded, ‘it’s mine.’  

’Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said.

With adverbs:

’Put it down! she shouted menacingly.

’Give it back,’ he pleaded abjectly, ‘it’s mine.’

’Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said contemptuously.

If you find yourself using a lot of adverbs, consider removing 80% of them. You might be surprised by how much more streamlined and less bulky your writing will seem.

A rule of thumb for sounding more interesting: Use sensory words.

Okay, you might be thinking, what if I’m comfortable with my overall clarity, but I feel like my writing sounds boring?

There’s a handy rule of thumb for that, too: look for words that are tied to the five senses. Research suggests that  language associated with sound, taste, and touch engages different parts of the brain.  I recommend finding  a list of sensory words  to play with while you’re writing.

Step 3: Use the best word choice tools (no, it’s not cheating).

If I asked you to multiply 183 by 46, would you use a calculator?

Most people would, and they wouldn’t consider it cheating. Yet, some people feel like using online word choice tools is cheating. I’m not sure why.

As you’re looking for the perfect word, there are some super-sophisticated tools out there, above and beyond a typical thesaurus. Use them. They can help enormously at a moment’s notice.

Here are my favorites:

• Power Thesaurus  — an insanely useful tool that’s much better than an ordinary thesaurus.
• ThinkMap Visual Thesaurus  — an intuitive resource for visual-spatial thinkers.
• Word lists — Marketers and bloggers have done a lot of legwork to curate highly expressive words. Here’s one  list of about 600 “power words” to get you started.

Tip: Don’t edit while writing.

It’s better to revise for word choice than get stuck on a word and, as a result, lose your train of thought. The truth is, even the most experienced writers rarely pick the perfect words the first time around. So, don’t worry if you feel like you’re not hitting the bullseye in your first draft. Focus instead on getting your point across. Don’t stop to second-guess yourself. Later, you can revise each sentence to make sure you’re satisfied with what your words mean.

One way to revise for word choice is to do it based on parts of speech. I like to look for adjectives (descriptive words) and see if I can swap in better ones. For example, when describing a person, I might replace the generic adjective “nice” with “thoughtful” or “generous.” When describing an experience, I might replace “excellent” with a more specific word like “memorable” or “profound.” Also, if I find myself running into too many adjectives, I’ll nix some of them.

Another way to revise for word choice is to read your writing aloud. This might seem silly, but it works. Like, really well. I’ve found that many people “think out loud,” and speech is a great tool for calling to mind the right words to fit your ideas.

Step 4: Cultivate your personal lexicon.

Okay, this isn’t a quick tip … but it’s a great way to become a better, more engaging writer: adopt the great words you encounter in the wild.

Like a wristwatch or a distinctive haircut, your favorite words can be part of your style. You can spot potential options all over the place. When you’re watching Netflix, for instance, you’re often listening to  dialogue that was written by a professional . There might be some awesome words in there—and you can use them for free! You can also discover great words through conversations, books, and articles.

In short, when someone else uses a word that appeals to you—whether aloud or in writing—welcome it into your own vocabulary. You and your writing will both benefit.

Ellen F. has eight years of experience writing and editing B2B and B2C content for a range of industries, including medicine, education, digital marketing, law, sports/outdoors, and management consulting. She has a particular knack for captivating SMB business owners with B2B content and marketing copy.

Catch up on the rest of your content marketing news and strategy

Writing Quality Title Tags and Meta Descriptions to Support SEO Strategy

In writing for website clients, your work doesn’t stop at content. You also have to know how to prepare dynamic title tags …

Content for Each Buying Stage of the Consumer Purchase Cycle

With every shopping experience, consumers go through a purchase cycle that includes distinct deliberations, decisions, and actions. Savvy marketing or blog-post …

What is a Waterfall Content Strategy and Why Do I Need One?

All the best marketing tactics rely heavily on content creation. Yet over the long haul, being able to keep the …

Let’s discuss your content goals. Scale content with a dedicated account manager.

• Custom writer vetting and management
• High volume and high quality content
• Consistent publishing schedules
• Premium customer support

“The CW team is nimble and incredibly helpful. They not only help you execute on your vision, they truly endeavor to understand what your editorial needs are and how their team can best help meet these needs. They ensure the content CW is creating is not only engaging, but also purposeful.” Sam Kerstetter Senior Content Marketing Manager

• Contact Sales
• Contact Support
• Education & Day Care
• Medical & Healthcare
• Real Estate
• Sports, Gaming & Fitness
• Tech & Internet
• Travel & Lifestyle

Products & Pricing

• Products & Pricing Overview
• Order Content
• Blogs & Articles
• Managed Services
• Content for Agencies
• Content for Enterprise
• Content for Publishers
• Content for eCommerce
• Content for SEO
• Copywriting Services
• Content Writing Services
• How It Works
• Payments & Receipts
• Using Labels
• Content Deadlines
• Approving Content
• Requesting Changes
• Bulk Orders
• Exporting Content
• Success Stories
• White Papers
• Writer Signup
• Editor Signup
• Client Benefits
• Client Signup
• 100% Money-Back Guarantee

148 Mercer Street , 2nd Fl. New York , NY 10012

• 212-235-1103
• 800-891-0553
• Weekdays 9am - 6am ET

Get smarter! Sign up for our Newsletter

• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Writer Services Agreement

©2024 All rights reserved. ContentWriters.com LLC

Pin It on Pinterest

• Print Friendly

No products in the cart.

31 Stylistic Devices for Creative Writers

Today’s guest post is by Rose Scott:

Without figurative language , writing would be plain and shallow. The more stylistic devices you know, the more unique your writing can be. If writing is your passion, you probably already know a dozen or so stylistic devices, but I’m betting there are a few on this list you’ve never heard of.

Take a look at this comprehensive list of stylistic devices and see if any might work in your current WIP (work in progress). Of course, you want to be reasonable and not go overboard with forced prose. But I’m sure you can find great places to utilize these wonderful literary techniques.

1. Adnomination

Repetition of words with the same root. The difference lies in one sound or letter. A nice euphony can be achieved by using this poetic device.

Examples: “Nobody loves no one.” (Chris Isaak). Someone, somewhere, wants something.

2. Allegory

Representation of ideas through a certain form (character, event, etc.). Allegory can convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, and imagery.

Example: Animal Farm by George Orwell is all about the Russian Revolution. And characters stand for working and upper classes, military forces, and political leaders.

3. Alliteration

The repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of words, or the repetition of the same sounds of the same kind at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase.

Examples: A lazy lying lion. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers. Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

4. Allusion

Reference to a myth, character, literary work, work of art, or an event.

Example: I feel like I’m going down the rabbit hole (an allusion to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll).

5. Anaphora

Word repetition at the beginnings of sentences in order to give emphasis to them.

Example: “Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.” (Martin Luther King)

Opposite: Epiphora. Word repetition at the end of sentences.

Example: “And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Abraham Lincoln)

6. Antithesis

Emphasizing contrast between two things or fictional characters.

Example: “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

7. Apostrophe

Directed speech to someone who is not present or to an object.

Example: “Work on, my medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught.” (William Shakespeare)

8. Assonance

Repetition of vowels in order to create internal rhyming.

Example: “Hear the mellow wedding bells.” (Edgar Allan Poe)

Related: Consonance. Repetition of consonants.

9. Cataphora

Mentioning of the person or object further in the discourse.

Examples: I met him yesterday, your boyfriend who was wearing the cool hat. If you want some, here’s some cheese. After he had received his orders, the soldier left the barracks.

Arranging text in such a manner that tension gradually ascends.

Example. He was a not bad listener, a good speaker and an amazing performer.

Opposite: Anticlimax. Tension descends.

11. Charactonym (or Speaking Name)

Giving fictional characters names that describe them.

Example: Scrooge, Snow White.

12. Ellipsis

Word or phrase omission.

Example: I speak lots of languages, but you only speak two (languages).

13. Euphemism

Replacing offensive or combinations of words with lighter equivalents.

Example: Visually challenged (blind); meet one’s maker (die)

Opposite: Dysphemism . Replacing a neutral word with a harsher word.

14. Epigram

Memorable and brief saying, usually satirical.

Example: “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” (Virginia Woolf)

15. Hyperbole

Exaggeration of the statement.

Example: If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times.

Opposite: Litotes. Understatement.

Asking a question and answering it right away.

Example: Are you going to leave now? I don’t think so.

There are three types of irony:

• Verbal (Antiphrasis) – using words to express something different from their literal meaning for ironic effect (”I’m so excited to burn the midnight oil and write my academic paper all week long”).
• Situational – result differs from the expectation (Bruce Robertson, a character of Filth, is a policeman. Nonetheless, he does drugs, resorts to violence and abuse, and so on).
• Dramatic – situation is understandable for the audience but not the fictional character/actor (audience sees that the fictional characters/actors will be killed now, though the characters don’t expect it).

Describing people/objects by enumerating their traits.

Example: Lock, stock, and barrel (gun); heart and soul (entirety)

18. Metalepsis

Referencing one thing through the means of another thing, which is related to the first one.

Example: “Stop judging people so strictly—you live in a glass house too.” (A hint at the proverb: people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.)

19. Metaphor

Comparing two different things that have some characteristics in common.

Example: “Love is clockworks and cold steel.” (U2)

20. Metonymy

Giving a thing another name that is associated with it.

Example: The heir to the crown was Richard. (the crown stands for authority)

21. Onomatopoeia

Imitating sounds in writing.

Example: oink, ticktock, tweet tweet

22. Oxymoron

Combining contradictory traits.

Example: Living dead; terribly good; real magic

23. Parallelism

Arranging a sentence in such a manner that it has parallel structure.

Example: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Opposite: Chiasmus . An inverted parallelism.

Examples: “To stop, too fearful, and too faint to go.” (Oliver Goldsmith); “My job is not to represent Washington to you but to represent you to Washington.” (Barack Obama)

24. Parenthesis

Interrupting a sentence by inserting extra information enclosed in brackets, commas, or dashes.

Example: Our family (my mother, sister, and grandfather) had a barbeque this past weekend.

25. Personification

Attributing human characteristics to nonhumans.

Example: Practically all animals in fairy tales act like human beings. They speak and have traits that are typical of people.

A kind of wordplay. Here are a few types of puns:

• Antanaclasis – repetition of the same word or phrase, but with a different meaning (“Cats like Felix like Felix.”—“Felix” catfood slogan).
• Malapropism – usage of the incorrect word instead of the word with a similar sound (“optical delusion” instead of “optical illusion”).
• Paradox – self-contradictory fact; however, it can be partially true (“I can resist anything but temptation.”—Oscar Wilde).
• Paraprosdokian – arranging a sentence in such a manner so the last part is unexpected (You’re never too old to learn something stupid).
• Polyptoton – repetition of the words with the same root (“The things you  own  end up  owning  you.”—Chuck Palahniuk).

27. Rhetorical question

Questioning without expecting the answer.

Example: Why not? Are you kidding me?

Direct comparison.

Example: “Your heart is like an ocean, mysterious and dark.” (Bob Dylan)

29. Synecdoche

Generalization or specification based on a definite part/trait of the object.

Example: He just got new wheels. (car)

30. Tautology

Saying the same thing twice in different ways.

Example: first priority; I personally; repeat again

31. Zeugma (or Syllepsis)

Applying a word to a few other words in the sentence in order to give different meaning.

Example: Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it.

Quite a huge list, right? With all these stylistic devices, your writing can potentially be so much more attractive. If you find it difficult to memorize them all, here’s what I recommend you do: make flashcards. Write a stylistic device on one side of the flashcard and its meaning on the other side, then work on memorizing a few a day. Voila! Enjoy your learning and writing.

Feature photo by Heather Wilson Smith

Have you been learning helpful insights on how to spot flaws in your fiction writing? Know some writers who might benefit from these in-depth posts? The book is out!

You can find  5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing on all online venues, in print or as an ebook.

Here are some links: Kindle , iBooks , Nook , Kobo , Oyster , and Scribd .

Don’t just give  any book as a gift this holiday season. Give  the book that will help the writers in your life become better writers! They’ll thank you!

Reviewers say:

“I wish I’d had this book when I wrote my first manuscript.”

“Every author needs this book on their shelf. From nothing happening to too much backstory to body parts behaving badly, this book has it all and tells you how to fix it with examples you can follow. Don’t have the money to hire an editor for your novel? Use this book, one of several in the Writer’s Toolbox Series, to mark your own book up in red. The fun part of this book is being able to read each entry and then determining what is wrong with it before you read the answer. Not quite sure what is wrong? That is okay, because the fatal flaw is fixed right before your eyes.”

“Another new and favorite part of the book is the checklist at the end of each chapter. I like having a quick wrap-up to check my work against. It’s great to rifle back through the detailed information after reading, but I’m more likely to use the checklists reminders over and over.”

“I have well over a hundred writing books on my bookcase and dozens more on my Kindle, but Fatal Flaws deserves to become the newest addition.”

“Got a feeling that something’s not quite right in your story? Maybe you don’t even know what it is, but you sense something’s not working? Get this book! It’s a mini-lecture series and workshop taught in a friendly manner. Your writing will significantly improve if you read this book and follow the suggestions.”

“This is an excellent study book for published and non-published writers alike. I love the fact that I got input five different editors. So many teaching books are written by just one person. Besides, where else can you get this much writing instruction for $4.99?”

Exactly! Our thanks to all who did an early read and review. Your comments will help others see the value of this comprehensive book. And may this book help you all to write awesome books in 2016!

~Susanne, Linda, Christy, Robin, and Rachel

Search Posts Here

Subscribe to my blog, similar posts.

Writing Mechanics: Scene Structure as a Mini Novel

This month we wrap up our yearlong look at the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing. Editor Rachel Starr Thomson…

Writing Mechanics: Avoiding the “I” Trap and Other Irritants

In today’s post editor Linda Clare continues our look at Fatal Flaw #12: Flawed Writing Mechanics. We’ve taken a look at scene structure,…

The Truth about Writing Mechanics

Today wraps up our year-long exploration of the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing. We hope you’ve learned a lot of…

Searching for the Poetry in Story

Today Robin Patchen takes a look at cadence and rhythm as we begin to wrap up attack on Fatal Flaw #12:…

Essential Fiction-Writing Tools of the Trade

This is a reprint of a post printed seven years ago. If you’re a fiction writer, you need to get…

Writing Mechanics: To Paragraph or Not to Paragraph

Today editor Christy Distler continues our look at Fatal Flaw #12: Flawed Writing Mechanics. We’ve looked at how novels are structured…

13 Comments

great post! thanks Rose, for a super stellar list of dynamic devices! i’ve saved the list for future and fair-constant reference. there’s always something good on this blog! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Oh man, it’s like Christmas has come early. I love posts like this – and I’ll both share it *and* copy it to my desktop ha!

Items I didn’t know about but immediately fell in love with: adnomination, anaphora, hypophora (I hadn’t realised, but I do this all of the time, which now seems pretty annoying!), and zeugma. Thank you once again!

Glad you enjoyed this post! Have a happy Christmas!

Thanks much for you “31 Stylistic Devices … …” I was in the process of writing a transcript when I sort of stumbled across the need to correctly define a scenario.

I did a quick surf, directly asking for what I wanted, this popped up. I scanned your list and had the “Eureka!” moment. “METAPHOR!”

It’s really great of you also sharing without obligation. We do a lot of that in our realm of things.

Okay! Thanks again! Please, have a great weekend!

P.S. For you Ms. Lakin. Thanks for making this site available! Please, have a great weekend, as well!

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you are getting some benefit from the blog’s content!

Do you have a list of stylised paragraphs? Not just the main 4 (descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive), but other types of paragraphs that apply rhetorical ornaments and devices.

Forgot to say thank you for this lovely and informative post.

Wow this post has boost my understanding of the analysing the prose techniques in a book. Thank u very much

I greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into constructing this list. I especially enjoy how you introduced me to unfamiliar and complex stylistic devices. I will attempt to incorporate these techniques in my future writing. Synecdoche is a wonderful device that I have not heard of before, I’ll have to steal it :P. Is there any way I can contact you? I would love to have a nerdy conversation about English!

Sincerely, Jenny Wales

It was interesting when you talked about how parallelism arranges sentences so their structure is parallel to each other. I’ve been wanting to find some poetry online to help me sort through my emotions from a loved one’s death last month. Thanks for teaching me these writing devices to look out for so I can understand the poems as effectively as possible.

Hi Rose I like your terms and I am using it on my writing my thesis on stylistics.

Actually, there are 32 stylistic devices in your list, since there are two no. 17.

Thankyou so much for the compilation.It was quite helpful to me while writing my work of literature especially since english isnt my first language.Its simply priceless

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

[related_books]

Next Steps for Your Manuscript

Free Amazon Email Course

Guest Blogging

Get your Free Ebook!

Subscribe to my email blasts to level up your writing and be notified of upcoming events and offers!

Review Cart

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

4.3 Word Choice

Learning objectives.

• Identify the reasons why using a dictionary and thesaurus is important when writing.
• Identify how to use proper connotations.
• Identify how to avoid using slang, clichés, and overly general words in your writing.

Effective writing involves making conscious choices with words. When you prepare to sit down to write your first draft, you likely have already completed some freewriting exercises, chosen your topic, developed your thesis statement, written an outline, and even selected your sources. When it is time to write your first draft, start to consider which words to use to best convey your ideas to the reader.

Some writers are picky about word choice as they start drafting. They may practice some specific strategies, such as using a dictionary and thesaurus, using words and phrases with proper connotations, and avoiding slang, clichés, and overly general words.

Once you understand these tricks of the trade, you can move ahead confidently in writing your assignment. Remember, the skill and accuracy of your word choice is a major factor in developing your writing style. Precise selection of your words will help you be more clearly understood—in both writing and speaking.

Using a Dictionary and Thesaurus

Even professional writers need help with the meanings, spellings, pronunciations, and uses of particular words. In fact, they rely on dictionaries to help them write better. No one knows every word in the English language and their multiple uses and meanings, so all writers, from novices to professionals, can benefit from the use of dictionaries.

Most dictionaries provide the following information:

• Spelling. How the word and its different forms are spelled.
• Pronunciation. How to say the word.
• Part of speech. The function of the word.
• Definition. The meaning of the word.
• Synonyms. Words that have similar meanings.
• Etymology. The history of the word.

Look at the following sample dictionary entry and see which of the preceeding information you can identify:

myth , mith, n. [Gr. mythos , a word, a fable, a legend.] A fable or legend embodying the convictions of a people as to their gods or other divine beings, their own beginnings and early history and the heroes connected with it, or the origin of the world; any invented story; something or someone having no existence in fact.— myth • ic , myth • i • cal

Like a dictionary, a thesaurus is another indispensable writing tool. A thesaurus gives you a list of synonyms, words that have the same (or very close to the same) meaning as another word. It also lists antonyms, words with the opposite meaning of the word. A thesaurus will help you when you are looking for the perfect word with just the right meaning to convey your ideas. It will also help you learn more words and use the ones you already know more correctly.

precocious adj , She’s such a precocious little girl! : uncommonly smart, mature, advanced, smart, bright, brilliant, gifted, quick, clever, apt.

Ant. slow, backward, stupid.

Using Proper Connotations

A denotation is the dictionary definition of a word. A connotation , on the other hand, is the emotional or cultural meaning attached to a word. The connotation of a word can be positive, negative, or neutral. Keep in mind the connotative meaning when choosing a word.

• Denotation: Exceptionally thin and slight or meager in body or size.
• Word used in a sentence: Although he was a premature baby and a scrawny child, Martin has developed into a strong man.
• Connotation: (Negative) In this sentence the word scrawny may have a negative connotation in the readers’ minds. They might find it to mean a weakness or a personal flaw; however, the word fits into the sentence appropriately.
• Denotation: Lacking sufficient flesh, very thin.
• Word used in a sentence: Skinny jeans have become very fashionable in the past couple of years.
• Connotation: (Positive) Based on cultural and personal impressions of what it means to be skinny, the reader may have positive connotations of the word skinny .
• Denotation: Lacking or deficient in flesh; containing little or no fat.
• Word used in a sentence: My brother has a lean figure, whereas I have a more muscular build.
• Connotation: (Neutral) In this sentence, lean has a neutral connotation. It does not call to mind an overly skinny person like the word scrawny , nor does imply the positive cultural impressions of the word skinny . It is merely a neutral descriptive word.

Notice that all the words have a very similar denotation; however, the connotations of each word differ.

In each of the following items, you will find words with similar denotations. Identify the words’ connotations as positive, negative, or neutral by writing the word in the appropriate box. Copy the chart onto your own piece of paper.

• curious, nosy, interested
• lazy, relaxed, slow
• courageous, foolhardy, assured
• new, newfangled, modern
• mansion, shack, residence
• spinster, unmarried woman, career woman
• giggle, laugh, cackle
• boring, routine, prosaic
• noted, notorious, famous
• assertive, confident, pushy

Avoiding Slang

Slang describes informal words that are considered nonstandard English. Slang often changes with passing fads and may be used by or familiar to only a specific group of people. Most people use slang when they speak and in personal correspondences, such as e-mails, text messages, and instant messages. Slang is appropriate between friends in an informal context but should be avoided in formal academic writing.

Writing at Work

Frequent exposure to media and popular culture has desensitized many of us to slang. In certain situations, using slang at work may not be problematic, but keep in mind that words can have a powerful effect. Slang in professional e-mails or during meetings may convey the wrong message or even mistakenly offend someone.

Edit the following paragraph by replacing the slang words and phrases with more formal language. Rewrite the paragraph on your own sheet of paper.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Avoiding Clichés

Clichés are descriptive expressions that have lost their effectiveness because they are overused. Writing that uses clichés often suffers from a lack of originality and insight. Avoiding clichés in formal writing will help you write in original and fresh ways.

• Clichéd: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes my blood boil .
• Plain: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me really angry.
• Original: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me want to go to the gym and punch the bag for a few hours.

Think about all the cliché phrases that you hear in popular music or in everyday conversation. What would happen if these clichés were transformed into something unique?

On your own sheet of paper, revise the following sentences by replacing the clichés with fresh, original descriptions.

• She is writing a memoir in which she will air her family’s dirty laundry.
• Fran had an ax to grind with Benny, and she planned to confront him that night at the party.
• Mr. Muller was at his wit’s end with the rowdy class of seventh graders.
• The bottom line is that Greg was fired because he missed too many days of work.
• Sometimes it is hard to make ends meet with just one paycheck.
• My brain is fried from pulling an all-nighter.
• Maria left the dishes in the sink all week to give Jeff a taste of his own medicine.
• While they were at the carnival Janice exclaimed, “Time sure does fly when you are having fun!”
• Jeremy became tongue-tied after the interviewer asked him where he saw himself in five years.
• Jordan was dressed to the nines that night.

Avoiding Overly General Words

Specific words and images make your writing more interesting to read. Whenever possible, avoid overly general words in your writing; instead, try to replace general language with particular nouns, verbs, and modifiers that convey details and that bring yours words to life. Add words that provide color, texture, sound, and even smell to your writing.

• General: My new puppy is cute.
• Specific: My new puppy is a ball of white fuzz with the biggest black eyes I have ever seen.
• General: My teacher told us that plagiarism is bad.
• Specific: My teacher, Ms. Atwater, created a presentation detailing exactly how plagiarism is illegal and unethical.

Revise the following sentences by replacing the overly general words with more precise and attractive language. Write the new sentences on your own sheet of paper.

• Reilly got into her car and drove off.
• I would like to travel to outer space because it would be amazing.
• Jane came home after a bad day at the office.
• I thought Milo’s essay was fascinating.
• The dog walked up the street.
• The coal miners were tired after a long day.
• The tropical fish are pretty.
• I sweat a lot after running.
• The goalie blocked the shot.
• I enjoyed my Mexican meal.

Key Takeaways

• Using a dictionary and thesaurus as you write will improve your writing by improving your word choice.
• Connotations of words may be positive, neutral, or negative.
• Slang, clichés, and overly general words should be avoided in academic writing.

Writing Application

Review a piece of writing that you have completed for school. Circle any sentences with slang, clichés, or overly general words and rewrite them using stronger language.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

• EXPLORE Random Article
• Happiness Hub

How to Use Better Word Choice in Stories

Last Updated: October 22, 2021 References

This article was co-authored by Melessa Sargent . Melessa Sargent is the President of Scriptwriters Network, a non-profit organization that brings in entertainment professionals to teach the art and business of script writing for TV, features and new media. The Network serves its members by providing educational programming, developing access and opportunity through alliances with industry professionals, and furthering the cause and quality of writing in the entertainment industry. Under Melessa's leadership, SWN has won numbers awards including the Los Angeles Award from 2014 through 2021, and the Innovation & Excellence award in 2020. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 25,199 times.

Word choice, or diction, is an essential part of any type of writing, and learning to use better word choice can greatly improve your creative writing! The more you think about your diction and practice using better word choice in your stories, the more naturally it will come. We’ve compiled this list of tips and tricks to help you start choosing even better words for your next story.

Read for at least 20 minutes a day.

• Even if you typically read crime novels and you want to write crime fiction, it’s still a good idea to switch up what you read to expand your vocabulary outside your comfort zone. For example, you could read a sci-fi or fantasy novel once in a while. [2] X Research source
• You can even listen to audiobooks when you’re on the go to get your daily reading in!

Use a writing app.

• To find writing apps, search online or in an app store for “writing apps.” Look for ones that have good user ratings and reviews.
• For example, there’s an app called Hemingway that helps you write more like Ernest Hemingway by highlighting sentences that are too long or dense, words that are too complicated, and unnecessary adverbs.
• Some other apps to try are Grammarly, Word to Word, OneLook Reverse Dictionary, and Vocabulary.com.
• There are also vocabulary apps that teach you a word a day to help you further expand your vocab.

Eliminate unnecessary repetition.

• When you’re writing on a computer, use CTRL+F to search for and highlight different words.
• Reading a draft out loud can also help you identify passages that are repetitive.
• It’s an especially good idea to eliminate repetition of weak, non-descriptive words, such as “stuff,” “things,” “it,”and “got.” For example, replace “got” with “received,” “obtained,” or “acquired.”

Pick words that elicit emotions.

• For example, replace the word “looked” with “glared” to convey feelings of anger. Or, replace it with “gawked” to convey feelings of disbelief or awe.
• Keep in mind that stronger words aren’t always a better choice than simpler ones. Always consider the message you want to get across when you’re choosing words. In some cases, “looked” may be perfectly adequate!

Use more specific words.

• For example, instead of saying “he was a very average player,” say something like “he was a bench warmer,” which gives the reader an image of the player spending most games sitting on the bench instead of just being an average player on the field.
• Here’s another example: instead of writing “she has a tendency to overcook rice,” write “the rice almost always ends up charred when she cooks it.” The reader can now picture what the rice actually looks like and maybe even imagine the taste of charred rice.

Select visually evocative verbs.

• For example, instead of writing “the river comes down from the mountains,” write “the river winds down from the mountains.” Changing “comes” to “winds” helps the reader visualize a river bending from left to right as the water flows down from the mountains, instead of just giving them a vague idea of where the body of water is.

Choose the appropriate level of formality.

• For instance, a farmer from the deep south in the USA probably wouldn’t say “she was quite mad when I showed up late.” The man would probably speak more informally and with slang. He might say something like “she was right ticked when I got home!”

Use fewer words whenever you can.

• For example, instead of writing “I came to the conclusion that…” write “I concluded that…” By removing 3 words from that sentence, you get your point across to the reader faster and more clearly.

Limit your use of clichés.

• For example, instead of saying “he was as dead as a door nail,” you could just say “he was dead” to get your point across without using a played-out cliché. Or, if you want to be more descriptive, say something like “he was as dead and as cold as a rock.”
• Another example of a cliché that appears in lots of writing is: “A single tear trickled down her cheek.”

Revise phrases later with better words later on.

• In other words, don’t feel like you have to choose the best words all the time when you write the first draft of a story. That’s why it’s called a “rough” draft!

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Melessa Sargent. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 14 August 2019.
• ↑ https://www.fastcompany.com/40441377/this-is-how-to-sound-smarter-by-improving-your-vocabulary
• ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250503
• ↑ https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-key-ways-to-choose-the-right-word/
• ↑ https://writers.com/word-choice-in-writing
• ↑ https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/services/writing-center/writing-resources/style-diction-tone-and-voice/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/word-choice/

About this article

Did this article help you?

• About wikiHow
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

What is diction?

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Diction  refers to word choice—choosing the right word for the right situation, which can set the scene or evoke a particular mood in writing .   Diction  can tell you something about a writer’s attitude towards a subject (or even their readers), their background and interests, where they grew up, or how they see themselves. It can make a piece of writing simple and pleasing to read—or difficult and boring.    

Determining the “right” word  for a given situation  involves understanding its  denotation , or dictionary definition, and its  connotation , or the subtler meanings a word can pick up in certain contexts. Authors also have to consider what they want the text to achieve, and what readers will want.  

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

143 Word Choice

[Author removed at request of original publisher]

Learning Objectives

• Identify the reasons why using a dictionary and thesaurus is important when writing.
• Identify how to use proper connotations.
• Identify how to avoid using slang, clichés, and overly general words in your writing.

Effective writing involves making conscious choices with words. When you prepare to sit down to write your first draft, you likely have already completed some freewriting exercises, chosen your topic, developed your thesis statement, written an outline, and even selected your sources. When it is time to write your first draft, start to consider which words to use to best convey your ideas to the reader.

Some writers are picky about word choice as they start drafting. They may practice some specific strategies, such as using a dictionary and thesaurus, using words and phrases with proper connotations, and avoiding slang, clichés, and overly general words.

Once you understand these tricks of the trade, you can move ahead confidently in writing your assignment. Remember, the skill and accuracy of your word choice is a major factor in developing your writing style. Precise selection of your words will help you be more clearly understood—in both writing and speaking.

Using a Dictionary and Thesaurus

Even professional writers need help with the meanings, spellings, pronunciations, and uses of particular words. In fact, they rely on dictionaries to help them write better. No one knows every word in the English language and their multiple uses and meanings, so all writers, from novices to professionals, can benefit from the use of dictionaries.

Most dictionaries provide the following information:

• Spelling. How the word and its different forms are spelled.
• Pronunciation. How to say the word.
• Part of speech. The function of the word.
• Definition. The meaning of the word.
• Synonyms. Words that have similar meanings.
• Etymology. The history of the word.

Look at the following sample dictionary entry and see which of the preceeding information you can identify:

myth , mith, n. [Gr. mythos , a word, a fable, a legend.] A fable or legend embodying the convictions of a people as to their gods or other divine beings, their own beginnings and early history and the heroes connected with it, or the origin of the world; any invented story; something or someone having no existence in fact.— myth • ic , myth • i • cal

Like a dictionary, a thesaurus is another indispensable writing tool. A thesaurus gives you a list of synonyms, words that have the same (or very close to the same) meaning as another word. It also lists antonyms, words with the opposite meaning of the word. A thesaurus will help you when you are looking for the perfect word with just the right meaning to convey your ideas. It will also help you learn more words and use the ones you already know more correctly.

precocious adj , She’s such a precocious little girl! : uncommonly smart, mature, advanced, smart, bright, brilliant, gifted, quick, clever, apt.

Ant. slow, backward, stupid.

Using Proper Connotations

A denotation is the dictionary definition of a word. A connotation , on the other hand, is the emotional or cultural meaning attached to a word. The connotation of a word can be positive, negative, or neutral. Keep in mind the connotative meaning when choosing a word.

• Denotation: Exceptionally thin and slight or meager in body or size.
• Word used in a sentence: Although he was a premature baby and a scrawny child, Martin has developed into a strong man.
• Connotation: (Negative) In this sentence the word scrawny may have a negative connotation in the readers’ minds. They might find it to mean a weakness or a personal flaw; however, the word fits into the sentence appropriately.
• Denotation: Lacking sufficient flesh, very thin.
• Word used in a sentence: Skinny jeans have become very fashionable in the past couple of years.
• Connotation: (Positive) Based on cultural and personal impressions of what it means to be skinny, the reader may have positive connotations of the word skinny .
• Denotation: Lacking or deficient in flesh; containing little or no fat.
• Word used in a sentence: My brother has a lean figure, whereas I have a more muscular build.
• Connotation: (Neutral) In this sentence, lean has a neutral connotation. It does not call to mind an overly skinny person like the word scrawny , nor does imply the positive cultural impressions of the word skinny . It is merely a neutral descriptive word.

Notice that all the words have a very similar denotation; however, the connotations of each word differ.

In each of the following items, you will find words with similar denotations. Identify the words’ connotations as positive, negative, or neutral by writing the word in the appropriate box. Copy the chart onto your own piece of paper.

• curious, nosy, interested
• lazy, relaxed, slow
• courageous, foolhardy, assured
• new, newfangled, modern
• mansion, shack, residence
• spinster, unmarried woman, career woman
• giggle, laugh, cackle
• boring, routine, prosaic
• noted, notorious, famous
• assertive, confident, pushy

Avoiding Slang

Slang describes informal words that are considered nonstandard English. Slang often changes with passing fads and may be used by or familiar to only a specific group of people. Most people use slang when they speak and in personal correspondences, such as e-mails, text messages, and instant messages. Slang is appropriate between friends in an informal context but should be avoided in formal academic writing.

Writing at Work

Frequent exposure to media and popular culture has desensitized many of us to slang. In certain situations, using slang at work may not be problematic, but keep in mind that words can have a powerful effect. Slang in professional e-mails or during meetings may convey the wrong message or even mistakenly offend someone.

Edit the following paragraph by replacing the slang words and phrases with more formal language. Rewrite the paragraph on your own sheet of paper.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Avoiding Clichés

Clichés are descriptive expressions that have lost their effectiveness because they are overused. Writing that uses clichés often suffers from a lack of originality and insight. Avoiding clichés in formal writing will help you write in original and fresh ways.

• Clichéd: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes my blood boil .
• Plain: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me really angry.
• Original: Whenever my brother and I get into an argument, he always says something that makes me want to go to the gym and punch the bag for a few hours.

Think about all the cliché phrases that you hear in popular music or in everyday conversation. What would happen if these clichés were transformed into something unique?

On your own sheet of paper, revise the following sentences by replacing the clichés with fresh, original descriptions.

• She is writing a memoir in which she will air her family’s dirty laundry.
• Fran had an ax to grind with Benny, and she planned to confront him that night at the party.
• Mr. Muller was at his wit’s end with the rowdy class of seventh graders.
• The bottom line is that Greg was fired because he missed too many days of work.
• Sometimes it is hard to make ends meet with just one paycheck.
• My brain is fried from pulling an all-nighter.
• Maria left the dishes in the sink all week to give Jeff a taste of his own medicine.
• While they were at the carnival Janice exclaimed, “Time sure does fly when you are having fun!”
• Jeremy became tongue-tied after the interviewer asked him where he saw himself in five years.
• Jordan was dressed to the nines that night.

Avoiding Overly General Words

Specific words and images make your writing more interesting to read. Whenever possible, avoid overly general words in your writing; instead, try to replace general language with particular nouns, verbs, and modifiers that convey details and that bring yours words to life. Add words that provide color, texture, sound, and even smell to your writing.

• General: My new puppy is cute.
• Specific: My new puppy is a ball of white fuzz with the biggest black eyes I have ever seen.
• General: My teacher told us that plagiarism is bad.
• Specific: My teacher, Ms. Atwater, created a presentation detailing exactly how plagiarism is illegal and unethical.

Revise the following sentences by replacing the overly general words with more precise and attractive language. Write the new sentences on your own sheet of paper.

• Reilly got into her car and drove off.
• I would like to travel to outer space because it would be amazing.
• Jane came home after a bad day at the office.
• I thought Milo’s essay was fascinating.
• The dog walked up the street.
• The coal miners were tired after a long day.
• The tropical fish are pretty.
• I sweat a lot after running.
• The goalie blocked the shot.
• I enjoyed my Mexican meal.

Key Takeaways

• Using a dictionary and thesaurus as you write will improve your writing by improving your word choice.
• Connotations of words may be positive, neutral, or negative.
• Slang, clichés, and overly general words should be avoided in academic writing.

Writing Application

Review a piece of writing that you have completed for school. Circle any sentences with slang, clichés, or overly general words and rewrite them using stronger language.

Write What Matters Copyright © 2020 by [Author removed at request of original publisher] is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• 021 813 9224

6  Effective Ways to Improve Word Choice in Writing

Here are six tips to strengthen your writing through your word choice.

By Veselina Yaneva

Words are the building blocks of a text. The freedom of word choice is one of the most inspiring aspects of writing, but it is also one of its greatest challenges.

As Mark Twain pointed out, ‘[t]he difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug’.

The following six strategies can come in handy if you are trying to formulate your message effectively.

Write with your target audience in mind

Your words need to be intelligible, appropriate and emotionally appealing to your intended readership. Are you writing for an academic audience who will be impressed by a formal style and Latinate words? Will sophisticated words like ‘extemporaneous’ or ‘exacerbate’ appeal to them?

Or are you writing young adult fiction aimed at a 21st-century teenager? They might not appreciate a word such as ‘wonder-wench’ (a synonym for ‘sweetheart’), because this word is not part of a contemporary teen’s vocabulary.

Select words that help conjure emotions

In addition to being suitable and understandable, your words also need to tap into the emotions of your readers. Emotional trigger words , also known as power words, can help.

For example, the word ‘secret’ piques curiosity, while the word ‘because’ promises to quench people’s longing for a solution to a problem.

Consider the feelings and associations attached to a word. If you want to evoke sympathy, the word ‘abandoned’ will be more evocative than ‘left’.

Choose words with the appropriate connotations  in your writing

The cultural and emotional meaning implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning (or its denotation ), is a significant part of word choice. Connotations enable authors to skew the meaning in a particular direction.

For instance, the sentences, ‘Welcome to my house’ and ‘Welcome to my home,’ carry different emotional undertones. The word ‘house’ has a neutral connotation; it simply denotes the place where we live. In contrast, the word ‘home’ induces feelings of family love and harmony.

The emotional flavours of these two words are juxtaposed in Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women , when Mrs March says that she doesn’t want her daughters to ‘have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting’. A house, be it splendid, is merely a structure, whereas a home is a place where the heart belongs.

Be careful when using the thesaurus

Contrast the emotional nuances of two synonyms in the following sentences:

‘The whole team is infatuated with the new coach.’

‘The whole team is obsessed with the new coach.’

Although the adjectives ‘infatuated’ and ‘obsessed’ are synonyms, the former conjures a favorable emotional response, while the latter evokes a negative reaction.

Similarly, the synonyms pairs ‘slender’ and ‘skinny’, ‘studious’ and ‘nerdy’, ‘pushy’ and ‘ambitious’ have different shades of meaning attached to them. Compare the following two sentences:

 ‘The new student was slender , studious , and ambitious .’

 ‘The new student was skinny , nerdy , and pushy .’

The first sentence creates a positive impression of the new student, whereas the second carries a negative impression.

Choose specific, concrete words to create images

Veteran US journalist Peter Roy Clark advises: ‘Dig for the concrete and specific: the name of the dog.’ We can follow this tip literally. Does the following sentence create vivid images in our minds?

‘The dog curled up cosily in her favourite place.’

Not really. With the help of specific nouns, however, we can ‘see’ the picture better:

‘Whitey, a Maltese poodle, curled up cosily on her favourite doggy bed’.

In the same way, see how replacing a boring verb with a specific one and dropping the adverb can add vitality to our writing and reduce the wordiness:

      ‘Martin looked furiously at his enemies.’

      ‘Martin glared at his enemies.’

Elevate your writing by avoiding clichés

The French poet Gérard de Nerval once said, “The first man who compared a woman to a rose was a poet, the second, an imbecile.” Indeed, overused expressions often weaken your message.

Impress the readers with your originality. Think about what a cliché means and try to rephrase it. Consider the following sentence:

When Jessica was about to deliver her first speech, she stared at the audience like a deer in the headlights .

How could you rephrase the cliché in your unique voice and style?

Implementing these six guidelines will help you evoke the right images and emotions in the reader’s mind. Even though wise vocabulary selection is not a guarantee for creating a masterpiece, it is definitely a step in the right direction.

About the Author

Veselina Yaneva is a freelance journalist with a Master’s degree in English literature from Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. Her interest in writing inspired her to embark on the Freelance Journalism for Magazines and Webzines Course at the UK Writers College. After completing this course with distinction, she’s been relishing the opportunity to immerse herself in the inspiring world of website publication as a journalism intern at the Writers College Times. Veselina’s education, voracious appetite for travel and genuine love for reading, bring a range of perspectives and ideas to her work.

You can connect with Veselina via: www.linkedin.com/in/veselina-yaneva-83213b210

Join Our Online Community

Subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter.

Be the first to hear about global writing competitions and upcoming courses.

Most Popular

The Battle with Self-Doubt and How to Overcome It

Why Taking a Break Can Be a Win for Your Writing

Oorwin Skrywersblok: Praktiese Wenke vir Kreatiewe Sukses

Onderhoud met Daniel Hugo – bekroonde digter en skrywer

Maak die Beste van Skryfwerk-Verwerping

Riaan Grobler’s Debut Novel Published

The Writers College Creative Writing Student of the Year (2023)

Mastering the Art of Smooth Transitions: A Guide to Effective Writing

From Mediocre to Masterful: 5 Essential Writing Skills

Related Posts

BY ITUMELENG MOLETSANE Fear of failure can stifle creativity in novice and seasoned writers alike. Here’s how to combat it. Maya Angelou once said, ‘There

Thoughts and ideas need time to reveal themselves to you. Taking a break at the right time gives you the opportunity to understand them well.

DEUR ANNEKE VAN NIEKERK Is jy vasgevang in die wurggreep van skrywersblok? Oorkom hierdie kreatiewe hindernis met praktiese wenke en herontdek die vreugde van skryf.

Daniel Hugo dra verskeie baadjies: digter, skrywer, vertaler, redakteur, manuskripkeurder en taalpraktisyn. Hy deel sy lewe en passie met ons. Agtien digbundels, verskeie vertalings uit

Writing Articles for Websites and Blogs

Freelance journalism for magazines and webzines, vryskutjoernalistiek vir tydskrifte en e-publikasies, advanced freelance journalism, travel writing, write a non-fiction book, creative writing courses, basics of creative writing, basiese kreatiewe skryfkursus, advanced creative writing, short story writing course, advanced short story writing, write a novel, write a romance novel, skryf 'n roman, advanced novel writing, writing science fiction and fantasy, an introduction to poetry, advanced poetry, scriptwriting, advanced scriptwriting, writing for video games, writing books for children | part one, writing books for children | part two, write your memoir, advanced memoir writing, business & grammar, grammar for writers (english 1st language), grammar skills (english 2nd language), business writing toolkit, writing coach course, mastering punctuation, report writing and presentation, write better newsletters, specialist courses, copy-editing and proofreading, press release and media writing, copywriting, writing seo copy for websites, self-publish your e-book, writing intensives, self-guided 14-day creative writing intensive, self-guided 14-day story building intensive, free 5-day creative writing challenge, buy a gift voucher, writing services:, writers and editors for hire, how we train, terms and conditions, privacy policy, connect with us, © 2005 - 2024 the writers college all rights reserved, (+27) 021 813 9224, [email protected], our refund policy.

If within seven days of starting your course you are not happy on your course, we can either transfer you to a different course or provide a full refund.

If you request a refund after seven days and before 30 days we will charge a 5% administrative fee, as well as any bank fees and tutor fees already incurred.

We do not offer a refund after 30 days on the course.

What Is Style?

Definition & Examples of Style

Cavan Images / Taxi / Getty Images

• Fiction Writing Careers
• Technology Careers
• Sports Careers
• Project Management
• Professional Writer
• Music Careers
• Legal Careers
• US Military Careers
• Government Careers
• Finance Careers
• Entertainment Careers
• Criminology Careers
• Book Publishing
• Animal Careers
• Advertising

Style, to a creative writer, is essentially the way in which you write. It results from decisions a writer makes, such as word choice, tone, and syntax. It's the voice readers "hear" when they read your work.

Learn more about how style impacts writing, and the factors that impact writing styles.

The term "style" applies to writers much in the same way as it applies in other scenarios—it's the manner in which someone does something. A writer's style is the culmination of distinctive qualities that define their work. The words you use, the tone you develop, and the syntax of your sentences are perhaps the biggest factors in defining your writing style.

Style is unique, but it often also draws on literary traditions. For example, if someone uses simple, direct sentences with few adjectives, you might say their style of writing has been influenced by Ernest Hemingway. They probably don't write exactly as Hemingway did, but they follow in those stylistic traditions that have become associated with Hemingway.

How Does Style Work?

Your writing style will define your "voice." In other words, your writing style will determine the impact the piece has on readers. Two different writers can write about the exact same subject from the same point of view, but if they have different styles, their writing will have a different effect on the reader.

Even if you haven't studied writing extensively, you can naturally sense the differences between writing styles just by reading works by various authors. Word choice, sentence length, punctuation usage—these factors all have an impact on readers, even if they aren't actively assessing the piece to glean the writing style.

Naturally, your writing style may shift depending on your subject matter and the point of view . You wouldn't write a coming-of-age story from a teenager's point of view the same way you'd write a sci-fi novel about an alien invasion of Earth. However, when we talk about developing your writing style, we mean the voice that is uniquely yours. That voice will change as your writing develops, of course, but like your personality, the foundation remains there even as it develops and matures. That means, whether you're writing about teenagers or aliens, your unique voice will still come across in both works.

This idea becomes clear by reading professional writers' works. Hemingway didn't write about the same thing in every story, but you can recognize Hemingway's style in each piece. Whether you're reading about an old man in a boat, a bullfighter in Spain, or a soldier in World War I, the story is told with sparse language, short sentences, and powerfully minimalistic descriptions.

The Mechanics of Writing

There is a more technical definition of writing style, as well.

To an editor , style refers to the mechanics of writing, including grammar and punctuation. In this sense, "style" refers to the standardized rules that govern the correct way to write. These styles include the Associated Press (AP), Chicago, and Modern Language Association (MLA).

While creative writers should be intimately familiar with how to write in these technical styles, they aren't top of mind when they sit down to create prose or poetry. These technical styles create the frameworks within which creative writers can find their own style and voice. By adhering to some rules and purposefully breaking others, creative writers develop an individual approach to writing that has a unique effect on readers.

These technical rules change depending on what field you're in. For instance, a book publisher using Chicago style would italicize book titles. A journalist reporting on that same book would instead use quotation marks for the title as dictated by AP style guides. Literature students often use MLA style, which also italicizes book titles .

Key Takeaways

• Style, as it applies to creative writing, is the unique effect a writer has on readers.
• Style is dictated by factors including word choice, tone, and syntax.
• There are also technical writing styles, such as AP style and Chicago style, which standardize grammar and punctuation rules.
• What Is an Epistolary Novel?
• Learn How to Write Fiction
• Better Ways to Describe Action in Writing
• Types of Figurative Language That Enhance Your Writing
• What Voice Means in Writing
• Ways to Use Figurative Language in Writing
• What Is Magic Realism?
• What Is a Protagonist?
• What Is Second-Person Point of View?
• Story Point of View
• Writing Characters in Fiction
• What Is a Plot?
• What Is a Theme in Literature?
• Third-Person Omniscient Point of View and Anna Karenina
• How to Write from Third Person Limited Point of View
• The Development of a Dynamic Character in Fiction