The Language of Love

The language you use reflects in your stories to make your voice, make you different from everyone else. It is essential you maintain some truth to your everyday language least you slip when you are writing and change your voice. Particularly if you write contemporary like I do, the way you use words and expressions to share a tale with friends over coffee or a drink shouldn’t be too distant from how you write. If you normally inject humour, (or pathos, or drama, or excitement) into a conversation, then chances are this is the language style you will feel most comfortable writing with. If you are truly comfortable with your written words, the ease of these words will resonate with your readers.

Care must also be taken to ensure you don’t over use certain words. If you want to use an unusual word, use it sparingly. Don’t be tempted to reuse it half a dozen times within the same story. Because it is unusual, it will stand out in the readers mind and suggest your writing is lazy. Don’t be tempted to show your readers how intelligent you are by using complicated or sophisticated language. Nothing will annoy a reader more than having to reach for a dictionary to find the meaning of a word. There are so many wonderful words available to us. Taking the time to find alternative and interesting words to blend in will give your story so much more depth.

Tip: Keep a list of your “favourite” (overused) words – my list grows with each new story – and during the editing process find and highlight them all. It can be a revelation just how many times you unknowingly use the same word. Take the time to change at least 75% of them.