*meanders in from metafandom* Hi. How are you? I'd like to take a crack at this, despite the fact that you don't know me from Eve.
Welcome, I'm well, I'm glad you did, and at least I know you're not Eve!
I've had teachers ask me if I did, though, and not believe me when I told them no, that was my actual vocabulary
That happened to me in high school once. I asked if I could have a thesaurus for an essay test; he said yes; I ended up not using it; he refused to believe I didn't get half the words from the thesaurus. This is possibly because I wrote an essay on the Industrial Revolution as a bodice ripper, complete with *very* purple prose (I was bored!)
I don't worry about it stilting my speech, because if it doesn't work, I won't use it, no matter why I went looking for it,
I do worry about that sometimes, because every once in a while it's hard for me to tell if the word works or if it didn't mesh. Usually I'm pretty good at hearing what I write...but there's that doubt there.
I won't use a word I'm not sure about, because that feels... hollow.
Almost like cheating? I feel that way whenever I do it. And yet, sometimes I feel like there's no other way to either a. get at what I mean, or b. suit the tone of what I'm writing. I tend to do a bit of research--both looking it up and googling for sentences using the word--when I use a word I'm not sure of, but still, it feels . . . yeah, kind of cheap somehow.
yes, a manual on how doctors should talk to normal people does exist
That's so cool!
Every section of the population has jargon, and if you don't use it correctly, the character that is part of that section won't feel natural to the reader.
I feel that way too. I tend to research both the professions of and the passions of the people I'm writing. Even if I never use the weirdly technical words I learn, knowing them kind of helps me . . . adjust my brain to how they think, where they're coming from.
one of my most commonly written characters is a teenaged male of sometimes questionable maturity with something of a distaste for education. He doesn't say things the way I would, and I have to rigorously edit what I write from his point of view to make certain he sounds like himself and not like me.
Several people have pointed out how word choice can be just as much about characterization, which I think is really true, depending on the POV you're writing. In first person and a close limited third, word choice isn't going to be about your vocabulary, or that of your audience, and making sure the vocabulary in your piece is uniform and suited to the over-all tone is more about characterization than things like your use of the thesaurus.
I had some of the same issues while writing Faith in the BtVS fandom. She has a limited education and occasionally uses bad grammar ... my difficulty though was making her too stupid. She's a smart gal, just not big with the book learnin' . . . which means not getting to use some words that might be more apt.
no subject
Welcome, I'm well, I'm glad you did, and at least I know you're not Eve!
I've had teachers ask me if I did, though, and not believe me when I told them no, that was my actual vocabulary
That happened to me in high school once. I asked if I could have a thesaurus for an essay test; he said yes; I ended up not using it; he refused to believe I didn't get half the words from the thesaurus. This is possibly because I wrote an essay on the Industrial Revolution as a bodice ripper, complete with *very* purple prose (I was bored!)
I don't worry about it stilting my speech, because if it doesn't work, I won't use it, no matter why I went looking for it,
I do worry about that sometimes, because every once in a while it's hard for me to tell if the word works or if it didn't mesh. Usually I'm pretty good at hearing what I write...but there's that doubt there.
I won't use a word I'm not sure about, because that feels... hollow.
Almost like cheating? I feel that way whenever I do it. And yet, sometimes I feel like there's no other way to either a. get at what I mean, or b. suit the tone of what I'm writing. I tend to do a bit of research--both looking it up and googling for sentences using the word--when I use a word I'm not sure of, but still, it feels . . . yeah, kind of cheap somehow.
yes, a manual on how doctors should talk to normal people does exist
That's so cool!
Every section of the population has jargon, and if you don't use it correctly, the character that is part of that section won't feel natural to the reader.
I feel that way too. I tend to research both the professions of and the passions of the people I'm writing. Even if I never use the weirdly technical words I learn, knowing them kind of helps me . . . adjust my brain to how they think, where they're coming from.
one of my most commonly written characters is a teenaged male of sometimes questionable maturity with something of a distaste for education. He doesn't say things the way I would, and I have to rigorously edit what I write from his point of view to make certain he sounds like himself and not like me.
Several people have pointed out how word choice can be just as much about characterization, which I think is really true, depending on the POV you're writing. In first person and a close limited third, word choice isn't going to be about your vocabulary, or that of your audience, and making sure the vocabulary in your piece is uniform and suited to the over-all tone is more about characterization than things like your use of the thesaurus.
I had some of the same issues while writing Faith in the BtVS fandom. She has a limited education and occasionally uses bad grammar ... my difficulty though was making her too stupid. She's a smart gal, just not big with the book learnin' . . . which means not getting to use some words that might be more apt.
Questions, commentary, think I'm an idiot?
Of course not; thanks for dropping by!