Improve Your Writing in Seconds
High school is full of little horrors. Everyone has her own personal list. I was afraid of public speaking, so mine includes a requirement by one of my stalwart English teachers to memorize and recite one hundred lines of poetry. At the time, this was a practice fading from fashion in public schools. Nevertheless, one by one we found ourselves standing at the classroom podium orating, or rather, hyperventilating our way through sundry couplets and stanzas of 19th century poets.
Edgar Allan Poe and his poem “The Bells” was a particular favorite of us all. At over a hundred lines, it was more than long enough. Also, each line was obligingly brief and included plenty of repetition in both form and word selection as demonstrated below:
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells—
Of the bells, bells, bells—
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells—
Bells, bells, bells—
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
And for Poe this works. Anyone who has heard the peal of bells in celebration, or remembrance, or alarm recognizes their clamor in Poe’s tautophony.
However, for most of us writers of prose, the often unconscious repetition of words or phrasing can be deadly. Moreover, it can smack of laziness. For example:
Many Americans have yet to recognize global warming as a problem of increasing urgency. However, it is clear that the problem is one that can no longer be ignored. In addition to fighting public ignorance of the scope of the problem, those who want to take on the problem face an uphill struggle with regulators at the local and federal levels. However, it is clear that social media offers new ways to address the problem of global warning, and a public and political history of ignoring said problem.
By the third mention of the word "problem" the reader is likely off in search of a sanity sustaining cat video. She knows that global warming is, in fact, a problem—Brava! Unfortunately, our imaginary author's move to expand on the argument is lost. And so here’s the secret promised in the headline of this post: the fastest way to improve your writing is to vary your vocabulary.
Below is that same selection, but one in which the descriptor, “problem,” appears only once:
Many Americans have yet to recognize global warming as a problem of increasing urgency. However, it is clear that the issue is one that can no longer be ignored. In addition to fighting public ignorance of the scope of the challenge, those who want to take on the dangerous effects of global warming face an uphill struggle with regulators at the local and federal levels. However, it is clear that social media offers new ways to address global warming, and the public and political history of ignoring said threat.
The employment of an array of words allows you to be more precise in your argumentation. The sentences begin to possess greater nuance and complexity. And they are relieved of the burden of repetition, which can flatten your voice and induce a debilitating loss of interest in your reader (i.e., global warming, yes; but there’s that video where Maru the cat jumps into a ridiculously small box). And while you could replace the noun with a pronoun to some effect—as in “the public and political history of ignoring it”—new nouns, verbs, adjectives and the like supply appreciable texture and depth.
Single word replication is not the only hindrance. An unfortunate duplication of phrasing can drag on the loft of the writer’s prose, as well. In the example above, starting two sentences in fairly rapid succession with the introductory clause, “However, it is clear that,” seems lax. In response, you could take out or replace either or both of the “howevers,” or even move them around in the sentences. And of course, you can alter other words in order to create greater specificity within the text. When such modifications to phrasing and vocabulary are incorporated, the new paragraph reads like so:
Many Americans have yet to recognize global warming as a problem of increasing urgency. Yet, it is clear that the issue is one that can no longer be ignored. In addition to combatting public incomprehension of the scope of the challenge, those who want to take on the dangerous effects of global warming face an uphill struggle with regulators at municipal, state, and federal levels. Social media, however, offers new ways to address global warming, and the public and political inclination to ignore its threat.
The author's reasoning is clearer, and the variations in language make it easier for the reader to stay focused, as opposed to skimming over a familiar word.
Now, the secret to this shortcut is that you don’t simply read through the thesaurus and throw in words like an unwelcome flugelhorn solo in the midst of your aria or rap soliloquy. Refer to the dictionary and know what the words you’re using mean in all their distinct variations. In addition, for faculty and student alike, don’t incorporate words or terms simply to make your work appear weighty and esoteric. Instead, choose the words that best express what it is that you want to say. If that means a pronoun, use it. If that means a word like tautophony, use it. Just remember that there’s no need to add a flurry of tremolo or a frantic series of grace notes when a solid whole note will do.
There are instances when repetition of a word or phrase can be effective in prose, as demonstrated above with the admonition to “use it.” In the context of our running example, the importance of global warming might be emphasized with the deployment of that now infamous “problem” word:
Many Americans have yet to recognize global warming as a problem of increasing urgency—but a problem it is.
Here, restating “problem” not only underscores the difficulty of the situation, but it also serves to confirm the author’s stance on global warming. That said, this is a technique to use sparingly, as it can lose its efficacy if employed too often.
In closing, I would like to return to Poe and his poem, “The Bells.” As students, I’m afraid we did him a disservice. For the most part we didn’t appreciate fully the fabulous wordplay in which he engaged. Re-reading the poem recently, I recalled that this was where I first encountered the delicious word, “tintinnabulation,” which means jingling or tinkling. Over the course of the piece, Poe describes with great precision the evolving sound of the bells by utilizing a wild, multifarious vocabulary. We swing from a “euphony that voluminously wells” to “a mad expostulation” to “a melancholy menace,” before the ringing, repeating conclusion. Poe knew that the writing that endures does so because its author confidently wields the tools and resources available. The most fundamental of these are the words themselves. So crack open or click on that thesaurus and dictionary. Better writing awaits!
You can read the full poem and observe Poe’s skills for yourself by clicking on the image below:
