Words matter to a water and a reader, not the words that you have to wonder other politically correct or inclusive, but rather having a decent vocabulary and why it matters.
Without a contretemps over your noetic use of inchoate vocabulary, in your grandiloquent desire to impart a sense of magniloquence in your prose, it would be prodigious, and with presage, to initially evaluate your audience so as to avoid seeming didactic or pedantic.
Did you understand ALL of the above sentence? No matter, it was pompous. That said, there is a fine line between having an extended vocabulary with which to choose, or just being a pretentious twit. And therein lies the skill.
When I was thirteen I made an important decision. I knew that I needed to increase my vocabulary in order to sound more adult and less childlike. I made the decision to memorize the entire dictionary.
At thirteen years of age there is a sense of invincibility, as if a single leap could propel you skyward, defying the antagonism of gravity feverishly contradicting you. It did not seem an unreasonable task. I would learn a page of words every day until the task was a complete.
I began with the ‘A’ words.
That was a tough slog. I managed to get a few words down the page before I realized the futility of the task. Disappointed, I resolved to at least write down any words I encountered if I did not know the meaning. And from then on I kept a small notebook and faithfully jotted words I read, or words I heard, that I did not know. I would look them up, jot down the meaning and then write a sentence of my own so that I could use the word immediately.
Perfunctory. (adj) (of an action or gesture) carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection.
Me: With a perfunctory smile, he moved on to the next candidate in line.
Using this method you can increase your vocabulary quite extensively. You are, in fact, relying on other authors to teach you. And that’s a point of pride. “So and so taught me the proper use of perfunctory.”
Is this really important?
In our age of annotated slang (LOL, ROTFL) the desire to rise above mediocrity seems scant at best. When I was younger I read James Clavell, James Michener, and the novels of other authors whose works ran 1600 pages or more. These were voluminous works that not only captivated the reader, but also utilized a wider vocabulary so as not to be repetitive or dull.
These days very few authors write that much. And those with books that large have usually enlarged their font, expanded their margins, added extra leading and line spaces to such an extent that laid out like a Clavell novel, would barely reach 300 pages. It’s a cheat designed to make the reader feel as if they had accomplished something.
And worse, reading these books, you find the vocabulary level holds at a fifth or sixth grade level, enamoring a wider audience who would otherwise be lost.
Right or wrong?
From a literate viewpoint, this adaptation to the poorest reader is wrong. For one thing, a reader would likely not be able to highlight unknown words as I had done. There is no challenge. From a sales viewpoint, this is of course a better approach–capture as wide a range of readership as possible. Of course I am surprised they don’t throw in a few illustrations for good measure.
A better question might be whether you believe that we should push ourselves to new heights, learn new skills, new words, more complex sentence structure in an effort to reach the heights of the former masters? Or whether we should just allow whatever level to be the level of choice, have no expectations, accept what is, fundamentally, a mediocrity, in the name of quick sales.
I ask that question because it parallels another point. Being on a bestseller list should mean that you are a bestseller–as in high sales–shouldn’t it?
That’s a topic for another day. Meantime, be prodigious and excrete some superfluous ink drops. I recommend the book: ’1000 Words to Expand Your Vocabulary’ by Joseph Piercy. You can get it HERE (or click the book cover).
Cheers,
