True, yet when it comes to personal instincts as regards word choice, my writing - as fluent and neat as I want it to be - sounds abrupt and dissected (as claimed by those who took the trouble to read my prose). Such discourages me heaps from writing because, as far as I'm concerned, I am perfectly clear on the message I want to convey even with the petty vocabulary of mine. So, the issue I'm raising goes very deep into meaning and how to structure words, which conversely flows from the way my mind works and processes the imagery (if it does so in a faulty, non-presentable manner, I can't change it, or can I?). And here I come to the dead lock where I think I can not be possibly clealer on what I want to say, based on a fair amount of reading (and writing) in English that I draw on and yet I get responses that my discourse is perplexing and bewildering to the reader. So, it's either my language that is useless or the visions I want to describe. Or both. It astounds me thus why the two-way code can be deciphered on a fair level of understanding on my side but when it comes to using the units acquired from the very reading, the native readers get the feeling of non-nativeness while reading my prose, try as I may to avoid it. Such is the ruthless cane over my literary back, giving me tough lessons and leave me with little satisfactory feelings to compensate for the toil. To cut it short, yes, I agree that some words suit a certain scene better than others but the mentioned instinct is a ground rather slippery, as we all use our variety of the language and even with the best of will we might sound confusing in what we want to say.
Really good article. But it isn't true that you can use most words for any kind of situation. I know this firsthand. In the fantasy story I'm working on, the characters live on a planet where abacuses or spitoons haven't yet been, and probably never will be invented. In fact, I can't even mention any kind of cultural object whatsoever that could be found on Earth without risking the reader's suspension of disbelief. Other than that, the article is very applicable. In writing, whenever I noticed I used an adjective twice in the same page, I try to find a suitable synonym. It's funny how quickly a reader can tire of reading the same word again.
There are also words for very precise situations, such as a new one I found today: serein (suh-RAN) which means a fine rain that falls after sunset from a cloudless sky. Perhaps ideal for fantasy writing?
You're right moonbeast - certain words wouldn't fit certain books ( time elements, historical and fantasy new world types ) and that definitely needs to be kept in mind. Actually for certain fantasies a good idea might be to get lots of botany, geography, science, astronomy books etc. and strip everything down to shapes and elements. Dils - Great word!
Insightful article, peachalulu. You reinforced the idea of writers using sensory input, and particularly, observation. As an example, Peter Kay is an observational stand-up in the UK. He turns the mundane and common-place into magical memories, and lets the listener reflect and think on that experience. One of his classics is 'The Big Light.' Every living room has a main ceiling light. Then there's table lamps, standard lamps, wall lights etc. The bulbs are all the same size, including The Big Light. But the adjective big was (and still is) always used as a substitute for main. And this is what he plays on. 'I can't see very well. Put big light on.' Instantly, the nation is cast back to another era (yet it's still current) with the anomalies of language and how irrational language can be. And of course, the memories. Writers should be like observational comedians: it focusses the mind on our world.
I like the word subject. What ever word is names for subject you write about it. It is either known knowledge or unknown knowledge. Take philosophy a large knowledge with unknown parts. I still do not know what to put in that space in a sentence, yet I put it there anyway. How do I do that you ask? The subject and the words connected to other words that relate to the subject. The connected words are related to each other as related words. Thoughts please. Writer One
Erm. Not sure what you mean, Writer one. Are you talking about the word subject or the subject of a sentence? Or are you talking about how you make a sentence and choose the words surrounding the subject of a sentence? I've never broken anything down like that - except maybe poetry even still, I think about what I want to say and try and translate it into words. It's never words before thought. It's not even words surrounding the subject it's more like - how do I show my character crawling through a tunnel. The words communicate the vision/tone/feeling.
