Sugared sweetmeat, anyone?

[John Dean]

The use of words is something dear to all our hearts as writers. They are the tools of our trade and we wield them with care.

That means that every word should earn the right to be on the page and that authors should be forensic in the examination of what they write, even if it means that some words slip from our usage or at least appear much less frequently. For example, I became aware some years ago that there were some words I used too often in my writing - ‘murmured’ and ‘chuckled’ to name but two. I came to the conclusion that, on most occasions, ‘said’ will suffice.

There is nothing wrong with the words as such but if they appear too often they can eventually start to irritate the reader.

However, the search for different words to avoid repetition brings its own perils as they can lead writing to become contrived. I taught one writer who insisted on putting ‘obsidian’ into every piece she ever produced as an alternative to ‘black’.  For me, it is best to keep it simple and effective: write what you want to say. Don’t be tempted to use different words just for the sake of it. If obsidian is the right word, use it. Otherwise, black is fine.

Other examples can be found in the world of tabloid newspapers and replicated in books. Having used the word cake, for example, the journalist will often use words like ’sugared sweetmeat‘, if they need to refer to the item again. If cake is the right word, use it.

At its heart, writing is simple and not about being clever. As CS Lewis said: “Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don't say infinitely when you mean very; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

It’s good advice.