"Big Words" - Anonymous

This quote was added by trebledchild
Writing doesn't need long, fancy words to be impactful. You can fall into a trap when you believe you need a large vocabulary to tell a compelling story. Any time that someone has to look up a word that you wrote, it makes the experience of reading your writing a little worse. Most of the time, simple phrases are the most impactful.

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owolord 2 years, 5 months ago
I think this is a "skill issue" here
jjp 2 years, 8 months ago
Write to your audience.
kumagai 2 years, 11 months ago
How do you define "simple phrase"? It all depends on the vocabulary of the audience. Write in the way that best delivers your message in a rich, satisfying way, and your audience will find you.
waltztothetango 3 years, 7 months ago
As a writer, I vouch for this hardcore. When I started writing, I walked in like this; I thought a good work was full of the richest, most vivid descriptors and adjectives. And then I started to really look at the paragraphs I'd been writing, and I realized something-
They were trash.
So I wiped the slate clean on my first novel and I started anew. Now I can go places.
smokemifugottem 3 years, 8 months ago
lol I didn't proofread that comment in the slightest.
smokemifugottem 3 years, 8 months ago
You know I generally agree with kiriiya on this. Only thing I'd say it keep your audience in mind. If your writing something for an English professor you might want to go a little extra on the vocab, but if you are writing for a popular magazine you may want to hold back here or there. There are definitely examples of pieces of writing that are just too hard to understand for their own good though.
kiriiya 3 years, 8 months ago
The use of a large vocabulary is not the priority when telling a story, but to think that one must limit the types of words used in fear that they may scare away readers is a pathetic stylistic choice. Appealing to the lowest common denominator may be the most effective way to make sure that the greatest amount of people can grasp what you are saying, but this can often limit the depth of the argument being made.
user65361 5 years ago
This quote truly hit me hard. I am an aspiring writer who at times can be my own worst critic. Thanks for sharing
weesin 5 years, 5 months ago
Great quote. For the most part, I absolutely agree with you, however, as a logophile, I do appreciate when an author throws a "big word" my way that I'm unfamiliar with. I enjoy coming across new words, looking them up and familiarizing myself with them. How else does one increase one's vocabulary?

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