You have surely already had difficulty describing perfectly the images jostling in your mind. You have probably already had a hard time convincing your readers from the first sentences during your various writing tasks.
You had to look over and over for synonyms to avoid repetitions that make your texts ugly. You have surely noticed that sometimes your words seem wobbly and that they fail to translate your thoughts.
You are always looking for the best possible way to express yourself during your writing sessions. Your understanding is not at all in question. Rather, it is that you are missing certain specific terms to accurately capture your thoughts.
The same problems for everyone
Many aspiring writers who take up writing experience the same problems. Some of them find themselves in front of a blank page, depressed and convinced that they are not made to write. Quite simply because they have trouble finding the right words to tell their story.
You have tried to look for various solutions to get by. I am convinced of it! You may have put off writing your key scene that you hold so dear to your heart until the next day.
You have searched the dictionary again and again, even if it means learning lists of new words by heart. You have the annoying impression that vocabulary rhymes with constraint and depression.
Nevertheless, everyone can learn vocabulary in a fun way, while building self-confidence to successfully write their novel. It would be such a shame if you let go of your dream of writing, when there are simple solutions to boost your word knowledge and thereby improve your writing practice.
The main goal when you write is to make yourself happy and to learn how to convince the reader of the value of your story. The only problem is how to approach the words to remember them and then use them. Without constraint and with pleasure!
You need to regain a taste for learning words, which will develop your ability to tell stories that clutter your mind.
4 tips for working on your vocabulary
1st tip: take an interest in the world around you.
This is especially important for anyone who wants to write stories. Take the time to learn more in the areas that appeal to you, but also take the time to discover something else. Thus, this state of mind will allow you to acquire new vocabulary words.
2nd tip: find the meaning of all the words
As soon as you read something and don’t know the meaning of a word, make the effort to look up the meaning in a dictionary. By doing this, there’s a good chance you’ll remember that damn new word. You can also write it in a directory, which you will leaf through from time to time.
3rd tip: trust your memory.
The human brain is made to retain a great deal of information. So work on your memory by learning words every day or every week. Make it a priority for writing. You can write these words on sticky notes and stick them all over your home for regular review.
4th tip: read all genres.
Vary the language registers you read. Don’t always read the same kind of books or the same kind of stories. This will help you, casually, to work on your vocabulary, but also to develop the characters of your novels.
Improve your language over the days
The first thing is to pay attention to the language you use every day with your family. How many times a day do you say words that have no place, especially in front of your children? You have to set up a daily family ritual: each member who says an inappropriate word inserts, for example, a small coin in a box created for this purpose – as a token. How to start a Wikipedia page for someone. This trick is very effective. The point is not to turn yourself into a smooth talker, but to pay attention to the words you speak because they have undeniable importance and a powerful impact.
Learning vocabulary will also help you develop your culture. Culture comes through words. Developing your possibility in this area can only have beneficial effects on your knowledge.
Learning vocabulary will allow you to be more comfortable in writing. Mastering the words will allow you to develop considerable written and oral skills. Using them on a daily basis will ensure that you increase your abilities tenfold and enrich yourself very quickly.
I’m not going to teach you any secrets by telling you that in order to learn new words or new sentence constructions, you have to read. You don’t have to binge on all the classic literature to do this. Reading a variety of texts will allow you to learn different jargons and writing styles.
You can set yourself a daily challenge: learn a word a day. It shouldn’t take you that long. Do not open your dictionary at random: this would be a mistake, because words learned this way are usually forgotten very quickly. Reading in context is very important to permanently acquire vocabulary.
If you have trouble with the words, don’t be ashamed if you get it wrong. To be wrong or not to know is also a key element in learning. Be curious, because it is through curiosity that you will enrich yourself.
Also consider playing board games around words or practicing with those broadcast on TV channels. Make crossword puzzles, crossword puzzles, search words. Play Scrabble: There are clubs around this game.
You can also register on one of the many online dictionary sites and receive the word of the day. You can also get a special calendar that gives you the word of the day. Surf online sites dedicated to compiling unusual, bizarre, outdated and difficult words.
To improve your vocabulary, have fun! Any occasion is good to do so.
Write to choose your words
Like reading, you know, writing is also a great way to improve your vocabulary. Writing indeed requires taking the time to choose your words. What a luxury to take your time in a world in a perpetual race!
Taking your time to choose your words is essential to qualify the message you want to convey. Write letters, poems, and simple stories: let your imagination run wild.
To make your writing practice even more efficient, give yourself editorial constraints: limit yourself to a language register, to a place, to a theme or even to an era. This will push you to cross the limit of your lexical field to explore new ones!
The vocabulary is endless. Did you know that the Grand Robert, a well-known French dictionary, offers around 100,000 words? Do not hesitate to dive into it!
If you have trouble writing, start with a diary. If you get into the habit of Wikipedia page creation service, your vocabulary will remain supported. Write letters to your friends and use lots of precise details. Choose wise words.
The more you write, the easier the words come to you and the less gap there will be between your thinking and what you are writing. This is what usually frustrates you when you love to write.
If you really want to improve yourself, you can participate in my free online writing workshops. Each week, I propose a new writing instruction that I publish 10 days later, almost anonymously.
It’s funny and so educational to write under duress and then read what the other participants have written with the same instructions. We must dare and take the plunge!
Vocabulary to boost your brain
Vocabulary is really the bridge between your knowledge and your memory. Insert the words you recently learned into a story or into a conversation. Then, take this text again and try to enrich it with synonyms, better sentences. Your obligation is to find the right word, the most precise word possible.
For example, “a pleasant scent” – a fairly basic description, by the way – can easily be replaced by “a suave scent” or “a camphoric scent” depending on the context.
Likewise, before using multiple words to describe something, consider whether they can be replaced with a more specific single word. For example, we will speak of the “stridulating” of the locust rather than the “sharp screeching” produced by this insect.
This is a particularly useful reflex to put in place when you are working on your novel after the first draft, to avoid repetitions which weigh down a text.
Either way, the more you work on your brain in one way or another, the more you maintain it and the better.
Books to help you
To improve your French in general, you can get the last book I wrote: 299 TIPS FOR WRITING BETTER, available in digital or paper format in March 2021.
You will find in this book many tips to improve your vocabulary and your writing skills.
299 Tips for Writing Better is a practical guide that will allow you to make your desire to write a reality and to dare to make your current writing project a reality.
You get stuck because you lack method. You feel isolated in your writing practice or in the writing of your book. You no longer know how to start writing or finalize your current project.
My guide will help you through all the stages of writing. My 299 tips for writing better will allow you to progress, to go further, to dare to write, and above all, to make yourself happy!
Challenge yourself: write the book of your dreams. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted to do?
Writing takes work, rigor, and putting into practice theories and advice. Writing brings infinite joy, but it cannot be improvised.
In this book, you will find 299 tips for writing better to help you satisfy your passion and progress in the art of writing. My book is for sale in paper or digital formats.
Does the meaning of acrimony seem obscure to you? Do not hesitate and read this book! The French language conceals inexhaustible treasures: aggrade, petulance, hobby are too often left aside in favor of everyday words.
As a conclusion
Working on your vocabulary is a sport. You have to be persevering, disciplined, serious and enterprising. Start by making efforts every day to embellish it with words other than the ones you use most often.
Remember: one word learned is actually 10 words understood. A learned word effectively makes it possible to form a noun, an adjective, an adverb and a verb. The meaning of words with the same etymological root becomes clear in the same way.
As you learn more and more words, you will benefit from the effect of nesting dolls! No longer be like the majority of people who lack vocabulary. Stand out from the crowd! Get out of the ordinary and the everyday!
