dblteam
Registered
I suspect it's just as bad for a writer to dumb down their vocabulary as it is to force the use of "big" words.
I'd say two-thirds of the words on Alaskamatt's fiction lists are words I consider part of my vocabulary, meaning I could use them correctly on the spur of the moment. Most of the others I'd heard of, but couldn't have used correctly if someone had said, "use <blank> in a sentence".
So I would use those words (my 2/3 of the list) in my writing without a second thought, and I don't think readers would be turned off by the vocabulary. (We'll leave whether they'd be turned off by the writing to a different discussion ) I hope no one would feel compelled to pick up a dictionary (unless they like that kind of thing), but I don't think I, as a writer, ought to be overly concerned with the audience's vocabulary. After all, I learned my vocabulary from reading because most of the books I read had a few words in them that I didn't know. Using those words in my own writing helps perpetuate the process.
Valerie
Oh, and my favorite word is "esoteric". Followed closely by "synergy".
I'd say two-thirds of the words on Alaskamatt's fiction lists are words I consider part of my vocabulary, meaning I could use them correctly on the spur of the moment. Most of the others I'd heard of, but couldn't have used correctly if someone had said, "use <blank> in a sentence".
So I would use those words (my 2/3 of the list) in my writing without a second thought, and I don't think readers would be turned off by the vocabulary. (We'll leave whether they'd be turned off by the writing to a different discussion ) I hope no one would feel compelled to pick up a dictionary (unless they like that kind of thing), but I don't think I, as a writer, ought to be overly concerned with the audience's vocabulary. After all, I learned my vocabulary from reading because most of the books I read had a few words in them that I didn't know. Using those words in my own writing helps perpetuate the process.
Valerie
Oh, and my favorite word is "esoteric". Followed closely by "synergy".