Trying to be too clever has become the nemesis of many authors over the past few decades. This is unfortunate because continuously striving to make something more flowery, more heady, more intelligent-sounding is one of the worst habits you could embrace. Have you ever heard the expression, "You're trying too hard"? Of course, you have. Because it's a common failing among the human race in general, not just authors. When authors do it, though, it's immortalized in print forever. Unless you want to go through the long and unwieldy process of putting out a new edition of a book you've already written. It's better to just not do it to begin with.
How to (Really) Use Words
Being able to use words efficiently and in an engaging and entertaining way does not mean finding a word that most people don't know and figuring out a way to use it in your novel. Big mistake. Unfortunately, that's what most authors do. They grab a thesaurus or dictionary and make sure to work in high and lofty words to subtly–not so subtly–show the readers that they're intelligent. All that work doesn't pay off, though, because it just creates eye rolling moments.
Using Ordinary Words
Okay, so you know how to use big words. Do you know how to use ordinary words? More to the point, do you know how to use ordinary words in an engaging way? Novel writing becomes very interesting, and I'll go as far as to say even exciting, when we use common words in uncommon ways. And what you'll discover if you try this tactic, is that you really don't know what some very simple words actually mean. You'll also find that some words have numerous meanings, but are seldom used that way. I'm not suggesting you take a word and use it in a way that's entirely obscure in this century, because that will only confuse your readers. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
There's More Than One Way to Sneak Through a Fence
I recently heard a story on the radio during which a scene was described where a youngster was scaling a wrought iron fence. In this scene, the fit was tight, so there were multiple ways the writer could describe how the youngster made it through. Naturally, you could have said that the girl "squirmed" through the wrought iron bars, but that puts one in mind of a worm. She could also have said that the child "pushed" herself through, but that's uninteresting and flat. She could have also had the girl "carefully squeezed" herself through the fence. That is, if she wanted to bring to mind a slab of sausage. The youngster could've "wriggled" through the fence, too, but we're kind of back to a worm there.
The author worded it this way: the girl "gingerly insinuated" herself through the wrought iron bars. This is a terrific choice of words, because it's clear, original, and bright. And yes, it is proper grammar because the second line definition of insinuate is "to introduce something unperceptively or slowly, OR…to "creep." It's different, it brings to mind the exact picture the author is going for, but it's an ordinary word, and therefore the reader doesn't have to stop, roll their eyes, and grab a dictionary because you're trying to be too clever. You get now, right?
Beware, however. Once you start, you won't be able to stop. You'll be rediscovering "ordinary" words all the time, and your writing will be all the better for it. Write On!
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