‘Thesaurus: Is it a friend or foe?’<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A friend of mine called me the other day to make a request. She said that she loved reading Illuminarium (Book One), but she wanted me to stop using words ‘normal’ people like her didn’t know. Then she proceeded to try to pronounce the word soliloquy which led to her swearing and both of us laughing. This conversation also\u00a0happened to coincide with me noting a reviewer had issued a comment\u00a0on the same book suggesting they imagined the author was sitting beside a thesaurus when Illuminarium was written.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.\u201d \u2015\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Confucius<\/i><\/p>\n We’re all different. I get it. I can also appreciate where these comments are stemmed from, which made me ask myself the question; Are the words I use within\u00a0my writing\u00a0too complex? I guess there is no one perfect response to this, which would suffice\u00a0because it depends on the person reading the books. It therefor becomes a question, which could only be honored by a subjective answer. Knowing this, I pondered whether there is a need to temper my use of vocabulary to accommodate those who have not developed a more extensive knowledge base of the language. This is where it got interesting.<\/p>\n If I were inclined to limit the words used to more commonly known terms and definitions, how far would I need to go and what would be the benchmark I could use to execute such a request? I actually don’t believe there is a way to have this done without creating a survey to obtain\u00a0a reference point for what the average knowledge base within a given populous is. Regardless, I’m not even remotely inclined to alter my writing style or the words I select to use within it. Primarily because if I did, then it wouldn’t be reflective of me, my work, my joy and celebration of expressing the story through the diverse access I have to descriptive language.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a breadth of marvels awaiting to fuel\u00a0your imagination. Never stop learning.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u2015\u00a0Truth Devour<\/em><\/p>\n I use the dictionary to ensure I have placed certain words within the right context and sure sometimes I use a thesaurus to stimulate my extension of words more for assistance in developing a level of texture and depth to the writing. What is the use of having access to a full color palette and limiting yourself to only a\u00a0few shades? When I write I crave the full rainbow spectrum of words to be spread with descriptive color across my pages, so that it eloquently carries\u00a0what I am wanting to convey in my stories.<\/p>\n Oscar Wilde said it best: Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Creative expression to me holds no room for compromise if it is set to be a reflection of oneself. When I don’t know a word, I look it up and learn about it. If I like the word, I’II go out of my way to place it\u00a0in a sentence or tell someone about it. I guess this is part of who I am, and it is clearly reflected within aspects of my writing.<\/p>\n Tis what it is.<\/p>\n\n
‘What is the measure for balance to be struck within linguistic compromise?’
![\"Be-yourself-everyone-else-is-taken\"](\"http:\/\/truthdevour.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Be-yourself-everyone-else-is-taken.png\")
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