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I subscribe to a bunch of 'word of the day' emails and sites. I always have the thesaurus site tab up when I'm writing. I even have a file with words, terms and such I wanna fit in my current story. Yet, I have one friend who stumps me every single conversation on IM and I have to go digging (I realize he gets a twisted enjoyment from this). There are so many wonderful words in the world.
My most recent favorite word is panoply. Say it hehe, it's a fun word!
While I love new words (new to me), I understand the reluctance in using somewhat unique words in writing. If a reader has to pause to look it up, it's considered bad. This is limiting though. If we refrain from infusing our tales with fresh (Sometimes very old but new to most folks) terms, isn't that also assuming they are lacking in worldly words themselves? Is it our job to give spotlight to words when it fits, or is it our job to tell the tale with only common and easy to understand words, even if this further buries unused words to the history pages?
I think I am striving for a balance. The scale is equal on both sides for me, I can't give more weight to either idea. The majority of my writing is perfectly easy to understand and usually I insert the rare words in context that it is self explanatory without having to pull away to find a dictionary, but it may provoke curiosity, which can lead to looking it up later, hopefully.
The purpose of this thread is to open up discussion, get opinions and of course learn of your most recent favorite words
My most recent favorite word is panoply. Say it hehe, it's a fun word!
While I love new words (new to me), I understand the reluctance in using somewhat unique words in writing. If a reader has to pause to look it up, it's considered bad. This is limiting though. If we refrain from infusing our tales with fresh (Sometimes very old but new to most folks) terms, isn't that also assuming they are lacking in worldly words themselves? Is it our job to give spotlight to words when it fits, or is it our job to tell the tale with only common and easy to understand words, even if this further buries unused words to the history pages?
I think I am striving for a balance. The scale is equal on both sides for me, I can't give more weight to either idea. The majority of my writing is perfectly easy to understand and usually I insert the rare words in context that it is self explanatory without having to pull away to find a dictionary, but it may provoke curiosity, which can lead to looking it up later, hopefully.
The purpose of this thread is to open up discussion, get opinions and of course learn of your most recent favorite words