Writers on Writing: Ten Tips for Finding the Right Words

Revising for Precise Language

Finding the right word--le mot juste--was a lifelong quest for French novelist Gustave
Flaubert:

Whatever you want to say, there is only one word that will express it, one verb to
make it move, one adjective to qualify it. You must seek that word, that verb, that
adjective, and never be satisfied with approximations, never resort to tricks, even
clever ones, or to verbal pirouettes to escape the difficulty.
(letter to Guy de Maupassant)

A perfectionist (who happened to have an independent income), Flaubert would spend

days worrying over a single sentence until he got the words just right.
Most of us, I suspect, don't have that kind of time available. As a result, we often have
to be "satisfied with approximations" when drafting. Near synonyms and almost-right
words, like temporary bridges, let us move on to the next sentence before a deadline
arrives.

Nonetheless, converting inexact words to precise ones remains a critical part

of revising our drafts--a process that can't be reduced to one simple method or clever
trick. Here are ten points worth considering the next time you find yourself in search of
the right word.

1. Be Patient
In revising, if the right word is not at hand, run a search, sort, select process through
your mind to see if you can find it. (Even then, a word may be elusive, refusing to
emerge from the mind one day only to arise from the subconscious the next.) . . . Be
prepared to rewrite today what you revised yesterday. Above all, be patient: take the
time to select words that will transfer your exact thought to the mind of a reader.
 (May Flewellen McMillan, The Shortest Way to the Essay: Rhetorical Strategies.
Mercer University Press, 1984)

2. Wear Out Your Dictionary

Once you have a dictionary, use it! Wear it out! . . .

When you sit down to write and need a particular word, pause to consider the key
ideas you want to convey. Start with a word that's in the ballpark. Look it up and go
from there, exploring synonyms, roots, and usage notes. Many is the time a usage
note in the American Heritage Dictionary has led me to the word that fits, much as the
right jigsaw puzzle piece slips into place.
(Jan Venolia, The Right Word!: How to Say What You Really Mean. Ten Speed
Press, 2003)

3. Recognize Connotations
Do not be fooled into thinking you can substitute one word for another simply because
a thesaurus groups them together under a single entry. The thesaurus will do you
little good unless you are familiar with the connotations of possible synonyms for a
given word. "Portly," "chubby," "chunky," "heavy," "overweight," "stocky," "plump," and
"obese" are all possible synonyms for "fat," but they are not interchangeable. . . . Your
task is to select the word that conveys most accurately the precise shade of meaning
or feeling you intend.
(Peter G. Beidler, Writing Matters. Coffeetown Press, 2010)

4. Put Away Your Thesaurus

Using a thesaurus will not make you look smarter. It will only make you look like you
are trying to look smarter.
(Adrienne Dowhan et al., Essays That Will Get You Into College, 3rd ed. Barron's,
2009)
5. Beware of Fancy Language
There is a difference between vivid language and unnecessarily fancy language. As
you search for the particular, the colorful, and the unusual, be careful not to choose
words merely for their sound or appearance rather than for their substance. When it
comes to word choice, longer is not always better. As a rule, prefer simple, plain
language over fancy language. . . .

Avoid language that seems stilted or unnecessarily formal in favor of language that
sounds natural and genuine to your ear. Trust the right word--whether fancy or plain--
to do the job.
(Stephen Wilbers, Keys to Great Writing. Writer's Digest Books, 2000)

6. Delete Pet Words

They may be more pests than pets. They are the words you overuse without even
knowing it. My own problem words are "very," "just," and "that." Delete them if they're
not essential.
(John Dufresne, The Lie That Tells a Truth. W.W. Norton, 2003)

7. Eliminate the Wrong Words

I do not choose the right word. I get rid of the wrong one. Period.
(A.E. Housman, quoted by Robert Penn Warren in "An Interview in New
Haven." Studies in the Novel, 1970)

8. Listen
Bear in mind, when you're choosing words and stringing them together, how they
sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes. But in fact they hear
what they are reading far more than you realize. Therefore such matters
as rhythm and alliteration are vital to every sentence.
(William Zinsser, On Writing Well, 7th ed. HarperCollins, 2006)
9. Be True
"How do I know," the sometimes despairing writer asks, "which the right word is?" The
reply must be: only you can know. The right word is, simply, the wanted one; the
wanted word is the one most nearly true. True to what? Your vision and your purpose.
(Elizabeth Bowen, Afterthought: Pieces About Writing, 1962)

10. Enjoy
[P]eople often forget that the sheer joy of finding the right word which expresses a
thought is extraordinary, an emotional rush of an intense kind.
(playwright Michael Mackenzie, quoted by Eric Armstrong, 1994)

Is the struggle to find the right word truly worth the effort? Mark Twain thought so. "The
difference between the almost-right word & the right word is really a large matter," he
once said. "It's the difference between the lightning-bug & the lightning."

Choosing the Best Words: Denotations and Connotations

Exercise in Using Denotative and Connotative Language

Careful writers choose words both for what they mean (that is,
their dictionary meanings, or denotations) and for what they suggest (their connotations,
or emotional associations). For instance, "slim," "scrawny," and "svelte" all have related
denotative meanings (thin, let's say) but different connotative meanings. And if we're
trying to pay someone a compliment, we better get the connotation right.

Here's another example. The following words and phrases all refer to "a young person,"
but their connotations may be quite different depending, in part, on the context in which
they appear: youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, brat, urchin, juvenile, minor. Some
of these words tend to carry favourable connotations (little one), others unfavourable
(brat), and still others fairly neutral connotations (child). But referring to an adult as a
child can be insulting, while calling a young person a brat lets our readers know at once
how we feel about the rotten kid.

Working with the three passages below will help make you more aware of the
importance of choosing words carefully for what they imply or suggest as well as for
what they mean according to the dictionary.

Instructions:
Each of the short passages below (in italics) is fairly objective and colorless, using
words with neutral connotations. Your job is to write two new versions of each passage:
first, using words with positive connotations to show the subject in an attractive light;
second, using words with negative connotations to describe the same subject in a less
favourable way. The guidelines following each passage should help you focus your
revisions.

A. Gus cooked dinner for Merdine. He prepared some meat and vegetables and a
special dessert.
(1) Describe the meal that Gus prepared, making it sound appetizing by using words
with favourable connotations.
(2) Describe the meal again, this time using words with negative connotations to make it
sound quite unappealing.

B. The person did not weigh very much. The person had brown hair and a small nose.
The person wore informal clothing.
(1) Identify and describe this particularly attractive person.
(2) Identify and describe this particularly unattractive person.

C. Douglas was careful with his money. He kept his money in a safe place. He bought
only the necessities of life. He never borrowed or lent money.
(1) Choose words that show how impressed you are by Douglas's sense of thrift.
 (2) Choose words that make fun of Douglas or pass scorn on him for being such a
tightwad.

Five Words That May Not Mean What You Think They Mean
Literally Raveling and Perusing a Fulsome Plethora

"You keep using that word," Inigo Montoya says to Vizzini in the The Princess Bride. "I
do not think it means what you think it means."

The word that Vizzini so frequently misuses in the film is inconceivable. But it's not hard
to imagine other words that hold different meanings for different people. Meanings that
may even be contradictory -- literally so.

Of course, it's not unusual for the meanings of words to change over time. Some words
(such as nice, which once meant "silly" or "ignorant") even reverse their connotations.
What's especially intriguing--and often perplexing--is to observe such changes in our
own time.

To show you what we mean, let's take a look at five words that may not mean what you
think they mean: literally, fulsome, ravel, peruse, and plethora.

 Literally Meaningless?
In contrast to figuratively, the adverb literally means "in a literal or strict sense--word
for word." But many speakers, including the Vice President of the United States, have
a habit of using the word quite unliterally as an intensifier:
The next president of the United States is going to be delivered to the most significant
moment in American history since Franklin Roosevelt. He will have such an incredible
opportunity, incredible opportunity, not only to change the direction of America
but literally, literally to change the direction of the world.
(Senator Joseph Biden, speaking in Springfield, Illinois, August 23, 2008)
 Although most dictionaries recognize the contrary uses of the word, many usage
authorities (and SNOOTs) argue that the hyperbolic sense of literally has eroded its
literal meaning.

 Full of Fulsome
If your boss showers you with "fulsome praise," don't presume that a promotion is in
the works. Understood in its traditional sense of "offensively flattering or
insincere," fulsome has decidedly negative connotations. But in recent
years, fulsome has picked up the more complimentary meaning of "full, "generous," or
"abundant." So is one definition more correct or appropriate than the other?

Guardian Style (2007), the usage guide for writers on England's Guardian newspaper,
describes fulsome as "another example of a word that is almost never used correctly."
The adjective means "cloying, excessive, disgusting by excess," says editor David
Marsh, "and is not, as some appear to believe, a clever word for full."

Nevertheless, both senses of the word appear regularly in the pages of the Guardian-
-and just about everywhere else. Tributes, praise, and apologies are often
characterized as "fulsome" without a hint of sarcasm or ill will. But in a book review
for The Independent in which Jan Morris described the mistress of Lord Nelson as
"grotesque, obese and fulsome," we sense she had in mind the older meaning of the
word.

Having it both ways can lead to confusion. When an economics reporter

for Time magazine recalls "fulsome times," does he simply mean "a prosperous era"
or is he passing judgment on an age of self-indulgent excess? As for the New York
Times writer who gushed over a "building with great banks of metal windows, set in a
rich screen of glazed terra cotta, particularly fulsome on the second floor," exactly
what he meant is anybody's guess.
 Unraveling the Meaning of Raveling
If the verb unravel means to unknot, unscramble, or untangle, it's only logical to
assume that ravel must mean the opposite--to tangle or complicate. Right?

Well, yes and no. You see, ravel is both an antonym and a synonym for unravel.
Derived from the Dutch word for "a loose thread," ravel can mean either to tangle or
untangle, to complicate or clarify. That makes ravel an example of a Janus word--a
word (like sanction or wear) that has opposite or contradictory meanings.

And that probably helps to explain why ravel is so rarely used: you never know if it's
coming together or falling apart.

 Perusing a New Janus Word

Another Janus word is the verb peruse. Since the Middle Ages, peruse has meant to
read or examine, usually with great care: perusing a document means studying it
carefully.

Then a funny thing happened. Some people starting using peruse as a synonym for
"skim" or "scan" or "read quickly"--the opposite of its traditional meaning. Most editors
still reject this novel usage, dismissing it (in Henry Fowler's phrase) as a slipshod
extension--that is, stretching a word beyond its conventional meanings.

But keep an eye on your dictionary, for as we've seen, this is one of the ways in which
language changes. If enough people continue to "stretch" the meaning of peruse, the
inverted definition may eventually supplant the traditional one.

 A Plethora of Pinatas
It's a sunny afternoon in the village of Santo Poco, and the villainous El Guapo is
talking with Jefe, his right-hand man:
 Jefe: I have put many beautiful pinatas in the storeroom, each of them filled with little
surprises.
El Guapo: Many pinatas?
Jefe: Oh yes, many!
El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
Jefe: A what?
El Guapo: A plethora.
Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you
know what aplethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he
has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a
plethora.
Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect
and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and
are looking to take it out on me?
(Tony Plana and Alfonso Arau as Jefe and El Guapo in ¡Three Amigos!, 1986)

Regardless of his motive, El Guapo asks a fair question: just what is a plethora? As it
turns out, this Greek and Latin hand-me-down is an example of a word that has
undergone amelioration--that is, an upgrade in meaning from a negative sense to a
neutral or favourable connotation. At one time plethora meant an overabundance or
unhealthy excess of something (too many pinatas). Now it's commonly used as a
non-judgmental synonym for "a large quantity" (a lot of pinatas).
Campaign to Cut the Clutter: Ten Good Small Words
More Tips on Writing Directly and Correctly

In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have
written; you have no idea what vigor it will give your style.
(Sydney Smith)
 We continue our campaign to cut the clutter by honouring ten good small words.
Unfortunately, these words are so common that some writers try to avoid their company,
favoring longer expressions that mean the same thing. Shorter isn't always better--but
often it is.

1. About
is a quicker way of saying as regards, concerning the matter of, in connection with, in
respect to, pertaining to, and with regard to.

2. After
beats subsequent to.

3. Because
is a few syllables shorter than based on the fact that, due to the fact that, for the
reason that, in view of the fact that, on the grounds that, andowing to the fact that.

4. Can
is just as capable as have the capability to.

5. During
occurs during the course of and during the time that.

6. If
is more efficient than in the event that and if conditions are such that.

7. Now
is the same time as at the present point, at the present time, and at this point in time.

8. To
is more direct than in order to and so as to be able to.
9. Until
doesn't have to wait for until such time as.

10. With
usually does the job of through the use of and together with.

What Is Writing?
Twenty Writers Define the Essential Characteristics of Writing

What is writing? Ask 20 writers and you'll get 20 different answers. But on one point
most seem to agree: writing is hard work.

1. "Writing is communication, not self-expression. Nobody in this world wants to read

your diary except your mother."
(Richard Peck, writer of young adult fiction)

2. "Writing has been for a long time my major tool for self-instruction and self-
development."
(Toni Cade Bambara, short story writer)

3. "I don't see writing as communication of something already discovered, as 'truths'

already known. Rather, I see writing as a job of experiment. It's like any discovery job;
you don't know what's going to happen until you try it."
(William Stafford, poet)

4. "I think writing is really a process of communication. . . . It's the sense of being in
contact with people who are part of a particular audience that really makes a
 difference to me in writing."
(Sherley Anne Williams, poet)

5. "Writing makes no noise, except groans, and it can be done everywhere, and it is
done alone."
(Ursula K. LeGuin, novelist, poet, and essayist)

6. "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash
your hands afterwards."
(Robert Heinlein, science fiction writer)

7. "Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself."
(Franz Kafka, novelist)

8. "Writing is a struggle against silence."

(Carlos Fuentes, novelist and essayist)

9. "Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it's just an illusion, that
people are going to bring their own stuff into it."
(David Sedaris, humorist and essayist)

10. "Writing is its own reward."

(Henry Miller, novelist)
11. "Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends,
and then for money.”
(Molière, playwright)

12. "Writing is turning one's worst moments into money."

(J. P. Donleavy, novelist)
13. "I've always disliked words like 'inspiration.' Writing is probably like a scientist thinking
about some scientific problem or an engineer about an engineering problem."
(Doris Lessing, novelist)

14. "Writing is just work--there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with
your toes--it's still just work."
(Sinclair Lewis, novelist)

15. "Writing is hard work, not magic. It begins with deciding why you are writing and
whom you are writing for. What is your intent? What do you want the reader to get out
of it? What do you want to get out of it. It's also about making a serious time
commitment and getting the project done."
(Suze Orman, finance editor and author)

16. "Writing is [like] making a table. With both you are working with reality, a material just
as hard as wood. Both are full of tricks and techniques. Basically very little magic and
a lot of hard work are involved. . . . What is a privilege, however, is to do a job to your
satisfaction."
(Gabriel Garcia Marquez, novelist)

17. "People on the outside think there's something magical about writing, that you go up
in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a
story, but it isn't like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that's all
there is to it."
(Harlan Ellison, science fiction writer)

18. "Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer
experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits
always before or behind."
(Catherine Drinker Bowen, biographer)
19. "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
(E.L. Doctorow, novelist)

20. "Writing is the only way to talk without being interrupted."

(Jules Renard, novelist and playwright)