Five Vocabulary Improvement Tips for Writing

Suzannah Windsor Freeman reports:

"Your words are the most important tools you have as a writer...It doesn’t need to be boring. Choose a few of these simple strategies and watch your use of language improve...Sign up for one of these programs, which deliver information on a new word each day. As long as you commit to reading the emails, it’s an easy way to expand your vocabulary...It sounds simple, but keeping your dictionary on hand as you read your novel, magazine, or the daily newspaper, can encourage you to look up words you’d otherwise skim over. My Kindle eReader has a built-in dictionary, so whenever I encounter an unfamiliar word, I just move my cursor over to it and—voila—the definition pops up on the screen...Whether you choose to record your words-of-the-day or just jot down unfamiliar words...as you encounter them, keeping a vocabulary journal will help reinforce new language. The very act of writing things down helps us to remember things, plus you’ll be able to look back through your journal whenever you like. You can even draw pictures or diagrams next to words to help you associate meanings with something more concrete...If you learn a new word per day, but never take the time to actually use them in conversation or in your writing, you’ll soon forget their meanings. Instead, endeavour [sic] to use your new words when you’re chatting with friends or colleagues, and incorporate them into your writing often...What could be more fun (and less work-like) than increasing your word power with games and puzzles? Crosswords, word searches, cryptograms and word trivia games make learning fun. Best of all, you might be able to convince your family to join in with you. A word of warning: [D]on’t waste your time learning words you will certainly never use. Extremely rare or clunky words you’ve never even seen before are likely to be foreign to most of your readers. That doesn’t mean there aren’t unusual words that are interesting and appropriate in certain contexts. Use your best judgement [sic] when deciding where to focus your time and attention."