This document provides tips for improving word choice in writing. It emphasizes using precise verbs and nouns, replacing vague words with stronger alternatives, and avoiding overused words and cliches. Careful selection of adjectives and adverbs is also advised. The document encourages finding unique phrases and taking advantage of a thesaurus to expand one's vocabulary in a way that enhances writing style.
2. Why Word Choice is
Important
Ideas are rarely new.
So when you write, there’s a good chance that what you are
presenting has been said before. In order not to bore your
audience, you need to make your writing unique and original.
But how does one accomplish this?
Write with style.
Quality word choice is significant to improving a writer’s style.
Clever phrases, powerful verbs, just-right nouns . . . these lead to
a voice all your own, one you will enjoy using and one that will
keep your audience reading.
3. Strategies
1. Powerful verbs
2. Precise nouns
3. Cautious use of adjectives and adverbs
4. Creative phrasing
5. Use “dense” words
6. Retire tired words
7. Avoid cliches
8. Smart use of a thesaurus
4. Use Powerful Verbs
Verbs come in two types: state of being verbs and action
verbs.
State of being verbs are most often variations on the “to be”
verb:
is, was, are, were, has been . . .
Most other verbs are action verbs, showing someone or
something doing. These are the ones you can have fun with:
blast, tip-toe, wrench, crumple, guzzle, fling, mutate,
project, wink, plop, flutter, cascade, sink, yelp, snooze, clatter,
5. Use Powerful Verbs
First, look for ways to use action verbs over state of being
verbs whenever possible.
Original: A unicorn was in meadow and upon it was a meerkat.
Rewrite: A unicorn poised in meadow and upon it rode a meerkat.
Original: The teacher is at her desk as the kindergarteners are all over the room.
Rewrite: The teacher cowers at her desk as kindergarteners sprint all over the
room.
The rewrites are superior and more appealing sentences.
6. Use Powerful Verbs
Some action verbs are very common and overused. Replace boring
action verbs with ones that are not only snappy, but precise.
Consider this sentence:
“No,” she said and walked out of the room.
The verbs are actions verbs, but not very exciting ones. Let’s try a
few more possibilities:
“No,” she murmured and shuffled out of the room.
“No!” she bellowed and stormed out of the room.
“No,” she gasped and backed out of the room.
“No!” she screeched and bolted out of the room.
No.
7. Use Precise Nouns
The man walked into the room.
The nouns in the sentence above are vague, general and leave many
questions.
The priest walked into the courtroom.
See how this version gives us a much clearer picture of what’s
happening?
Try writing your own, replacing the words “man” and
“room.” How many different versions can you create?
8. Use Precise Nouns
Here’s another example:
Original: A dog bounded across the yard, scaring the group half to death.
Rewrite 1: A Doberman Pincher bounded across the estate, scaring the would-
be robbers half to death.
Rewrite 2: A toy poodle bounded across the Astroturf, scaring the trick-o-
treaters half to death.
Your turn! Do your own rewrite(s) of the original.
9. Cautious Use of
Adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns. But use adjectives with
caution! Some beginning writers, looking to improve
their word choice, go into “adjective overload.”
Here are some examples of what NOT to do:
The lovely, fluffy, wonderful pillow helped me
get a peaceful, relaxing and great night’s sleep.
Boomer, our hyper, crazy, big, furry dog, licked
my little cousin’s small, fragile hand until she gave
him a tasty, tantalizing treat.
Adjective dump!
10. Cautious Use of
Adjectives
“Adjective overload” doesn’t just happen when long
strings of adjectives get thrown into a sentence. Some
writers will only use one adjective per noun, but the
problem is when they use an adjective for nearly every
noun.
Another example of what NOT to do:
My fantastic friend gave me a wonderful present
for my very special day. It was an awesome poster of a
cute kitten and an adorable puppy playing. It sure
made up for the terrible name she called me on that
awful school day last week.
Adjective dump!
11. Cautious Use of
Adjectives
If you were gagging on that last example, you tuned into the fact that many
commonly used adjectives are just that – common and overused – and a bit
sickening when used too heavily.
If you find yourself using generic adjectives such as wonderful, pretty, sad,
great, awful, terrible, etc., that should be a red flag to stop and ask yourself if
these are the best choices. Questions to ask:
1. Is the blasted adjective even necessary?
2. Is there a more precise or engaging adjective available?
3. Is this a good place to “show” instead of tell? For example, describe
HOW the day was beautiful rather than writing “beautiful.”
12. Cautious Use of Adjectives
Okay, so what DO we do?
Every style choice should enhance your ideas, not detract from them. They should
elevate your style, not muddy it. Consider strong, descriptive adjectives such as
these:
blistered sun-kissed raspy saturated silken
papery bejeweled turbid willful incandescent
gritty catastrophic acrid tattered haunting
crystalline redundant soulless variegated cynical
sinuous unruly sluggish vacuous bitter
scaly brazen polished lucid discombobulated
13. Cautious Use of Adjectives
Those listed on the last slide are just a few examples
of hundreds of adjective possibilities. Here are a
few in use:
• We followed the sinuous path of the river through the forest.
• Cortez’s bitter conquest of the Mayans was the beginning Western
rule in the Americas.
• Grace’s haunting voice lilted over the airwaves.
• The sun-kissed coast of the Adriatic Sea beckons millions of
14. Adverbs
Whereas an adjective describes a noun, an ADVERB describes – you guessed
it! – a verb. Most adverbs are “ly” words.
As with adjectives, use adverbs judiciously, only when they add clarity and
depth to the content.
Let’s take a look at a few effective examples in action:
• The thief stealthy crept down the museum hallway.
• Tirelessly trudging through the mud, the oxen harnessed to
the plow continued their thankless job.
• Superman intuitively sensed the danger.
15. Creative Phrasing
Phrasing is probably the area where you can have the most
creative fun in writing. Creative phrasing is taking ordinary
words and putting them together in a unique, pleasing
manner.
Look at these words to describe a desert scene:
cactus, sand, windy, hills, arid, sun-baked, blue sky, expansive,
tumbleweed, harsh, unforgiving, sparse, rocky, rigid
Try creatively combing some of these words creatively to create a
descriptive picture of a desert scene.
16. Creative Phrasing
Here are some of the possible combinations:
• cactus-laden, sun-baked hills of sand
• expansive tracts of gritty sand gave home to sedentary cacti and
racing tumbleweed
• the sharps winds of the desert lifted sand into the expansive sky
• spikes of cactus rose up into the unerring blue
• a palace of harsh, wind-driven sands and sun-baked rocks
• an arid canvas of sand carpets and cactus and topsy-turvy
tumbleweed
• A canvas wind-blown sandy
• the fat dollop of a barrel cactus
But there are so many more creative combinations possible! What did
17. Creative Phrasing
Many times, creative phrasing just take a little rearranging of words
you already have.
Original: As I drove along the highway, I could vaguely see the
summit of Pasachoa off to my left. Having hiked on it, I know it’s
green, and all of its contours make it look like some grabbed it and
twisted it, but today I couldn’t see much because fog covered
almost everything else.
Rewrite: The green, twisted summit of Pasachoa slid by to my left
as I drove, but I could see little more than a dark splotch through
the veil of fog brushing on the car windows.
18. Creative Phrasing
Here are a few examples more examples of creative
phrases.
From an essay about overdone holiday lights:
• electric holiday frenzy
• icicle merriment
• psychedelic in-your-face festiveness
From an essay about trekking in Peru:
• a flurry of confused activity
• mountains draped in noble robes of snow
• a makeshift woolen cocoon
• a dark sequined mantle (to describe the night
sky)
19. Use “Dense” Words
More words does not always equal better writing. Choosing the precise word
can streamline your writing and make it crisp. For example:
• Once a month is monthly.
• Something new is novel.
• People they don’t know are strangers.
• Something impossible to imagine is inconceivable.
• To think about for a long time is to ponder.
• Throughout the whole year is periodically.
• Over and over again is redundant or incessant.
• Something that doesn’t last long is fleeting or ephemeral.
• Refusing to follow directions is obstinate or recalcitrant.
20. Use “Dense” Words
The previous slide just gives a few examples of how you
can reduce wordiness and improve the flow of your
sentences.
A big vocabulary helps but is not necessary. Just pay
attention to the words you use and ask yourself if
anything better is available.
Remaining attentive to your writing is the key to
improving it!
21. Words To Avoid
Avoid “like” as a modifier.
NO: I was, like, horrified by the situation.
YES! I was horrified by the situation.
Avoid “like” as a replacement for said or synonyms.
NO: Layla was like, “No way!”
YES! Layla shrieked, “No way!”
22. Words To Avoid
run thing stuff good bad
went said pretty ugly awful
nice sucks mad sad happy
get well so gross dumb
23. Avoiding Cliches
A cliché is an overused expression. Many
clichés are similes, such as “smokes like a
chimney” or “like a bump on a log.”
While clichés are often colorful and fine
when speaking off-the-cuff, if you find
yourself using them in writing, take note,
pause and ask yourself if there’s a better
options. See replacing them as an
opportunity for originality.
24. Avoiding Cliches
More cliché examples:
• Couldn’t find his way out of
a paper bag
• Everything is coming up
roses
• Let the cat out of the bag
• Raining cats and dogs
• Safe and sound
• Snug as a bug
• Kicked the bucket
• Live and learn
• No guts, no glory
• First and foremost
There are hundreds more clichés
than the ones just listed.
How do you spot one in your
writing so that you know to
replace it?
Ask yourself if you’ve heard that
before, more than just once or
twice.
25. Avoiding Cliches
So how do you replace a cliché?
Be creative! Use description.
Look at the difference between these two sentences:
Cliché: The weather was awful! It was raining cats
and dogs!
Creative: Thick rain drops pounded the pavement
with force,
sending pedestrians running for cover.
Notice how the second sentence is much more interesting and
descriptive? Challenge yourself to, as the joke goes, avoid clichés
26. Using the Thesaurus
A thesaurus is a lot like a can of paint: it has
the potential to help you or make a mess of
your writing.
• Many writers new to the thesaurus make the
mistake of choosing big, academic-sounding
words that they really don’t know.
• While synonyms are similar, they are nuanced
enough that the word you choose has the
potential to throw off your reader and make you
look silly.
• Plus, many words have more than one meaning.
If you choose a synonym for an alternate meaning
to the one you are using, it can make your
sentence sound quite strange.
27. Using the Thesaurus
The best use of a thesaurus is to find word you know, but just hadn’t thought
of at the moment.
For example, let’s say you want to describe something a soft – a voice, hair,
the flowers of a petal, skin or music.
“Soft” replacements: silky, downy, velvety, supple
Mellifluous and faint can also replace soft, but only for sounds. Diffused and
dim work for only for light or color.
This is why it’s important to use a thesaurus carefully and with knowledge of
the words. You wouldn’t want to write, for example, “The puppy’s fur was
as dim as silk.” Imagine how confused your reader would be with that
sentence!
28. Using the Thesaurus
While you’ll get more results with an actual thesaurus, you can also
right click on a word in most programs to get synonyms.
I used this function in creating this Power Point. To remedy my over-
use of the word “interesting,” I looked it up and found many
alternatives –words I know, but just hadn't thought of at that moment.
Synonyms for interesting: appealing, attractive, motivating,
exciting, fascinating, attention-grabbing, remarkable, note-
worthy, catchy
Obviously, not all of these words will work for all occasions, so
choose your words carefully!
29. Last Word
Good word choice does take time and
thought, although it comes easier the
more you practice. Slow down,
consider your words when you write
and revise, and you will begin to see a
dramatic improvement in the quality of
your writing.
Reading is another great way to help
improve your word choice. Nothing
builds a strong vocabulary bank like
reading books!
