How do some writers manage to catch the exact emotion of a scene and dazzle their readers?
What does it take to paint so brilliant a picture in the minds of your reader that they feel they’re watching a movie?
The answer is a bit complex as it is a mix of a few things. But let’s pinpoint vocabulary out of the blend. A vocabulary is a powerful tool available at any writer’s disposal if they know how to use it correctly.
A good vocabulary holds the power to enhance any piece of writing. The great writers in history had a rich vocabulary, from which they could summon any word on command and employ it in their iconic writing that is still around after hundreds of years.
Do you want to know some tips that will help you build a strong vocabulary too? Well, look no further.
Read Every Day
All successful writers are readers before they become excellent writers.
To quote Virginia Woolf, “Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river.”
Set some time aside every day for reading. Many writers swear by the benefits of reading a little something first thing in the morning. It can even be a newspaper. When you’re fresh and receptive after a night’s rest, you’re much more likely to grasp words and fit them into the closet of your mind permanently.
Read novels, newspaper cuttings, magazines, online articles, anything. Just read!
Keep a Thesaurus on standby
When you sit down to write something, it is often advisable to keep a thesaurus handy. During your writing, if you notice yourself using a word repeatedly, immediately look for its replacements.
This way, you can employ a new word in your language straight away and it will always stick with you.
The bonus is your piece turns out wonderfully written.
Learn a New Word Each Day
A fun activity is choosing a “Word of the Day”. Write this new word on a sticky note and paste it near your work table.
Oftentimes, when you learn a new word, you look up its meaning and it stops there. The word slips out of your mind and you’re likely to forget what it even means when you come across it again.
To take this a step further, the task is to keep using this word in your conversations, writing, or daily exchanges as much as you can for that particular day.
This will really etch the word in your memory and you will be a master at incorporating it in sentences too.
Branch out of your usual genre
If you have been reading books of the same genre for a while, it might benefit you to change lanes now. You’re limiting the range of words if you stick to one genre.
To expose yourself to a wide array of words, slang, phrases, and idioms, it is crucial to mix things up a bit. Include other genres like politics, philosophy, classics, or even natural science.
You might be surprised by how quickly your horizons expand.
Solve Word Puzzles
Word puzzles are an excellent way to increase the storage of words in your brain. Word puzzles often have words that just sit back in your memory but never really come into use. They get you scratching your brains to fish out those words you know of but don’t hear or use often.
This allows those words lounging at the back of your head to surface and be included in your working set of vocabulary.
Additionally, solving word puzzles is a fun activity. You can even recruit a friend to compete with which will really get the motivation going.
Join a Writing Course
You can’t possibly discount the importance of joining writing classes if you’re a blossoming writer. It catapults you into a phase where you would have taken years to arrive on your own. A professional can help you with your grammar, sentence building, vocabulary, effective creative writing, and much more.
With the advent of online writing courses, it has become even easier to attend one from the comfort of your home.
When you chase a career in writing, there are various sub-branches waiting for you. It can be a content writing course, scriptwriting course, or any kind of writing that you want to pursue a career in.
So, select a sub-branch that intrigues you, grab a pen and start writing.
One such source for writing classes online is underclasses. You can learn the art of writing from the monumental writer, Mr. Ruskin Bond. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now.
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