I’m pretty sure I first tried to write this on Christmas Eve two years ago, but I accidently deleted the chapter before I saved it, so I eventually gave up on it. Well, here I go.

Here is a story with word vomit I wrote at one time. The Third-Floor Bedroom 
Characters: Zelo, random Jino (of SM the Ballad)
 

A few years ago I was reading some rant “fics” because I liked to bask in WPHYS’s popularity and see how the competition was. I came across a certain rant that was geared towards dissatisfaction with fic reviewers. Though most of the rants were reasonable like reviewers not actually giving any tangible input, one of the chapters I disagreed with. It was a chapter about reviewers suggesting that writers use a larger or more sophisticated vocabulary.

It has been quite a few years since I read that rant, and I don’t care to look for it, but I clearly remember a some of the points that person made. She (I assume) thought that suggesting writers use larger words was stupid because larger doesn’t necessarily mean better. This part I find odd. Who would ever suggest something like this? She also hated the idea of reviewers telling writers to look up words in a thesaurus to broaden their word use. I will address these two issues and possibly more if I get to it.
 

So firstly, I absolutely, 100% believe that writers should try to expand their vocabulary and apply that vocabulary to their stories. It’s common sense to me. I take satisfaction with learning a word and its meaning and being able to use that word correctly. When I was in an SAT “prep” class in high school, my favorite thing was learning vocabulary. I hated grammar, and math, and analyzing short stories, but vocabulary was fun.

It’s obvious. Learn words, get smarter son. There is no reason to feel belittled or attacked when someone suggests that you improve yourself. It’s better than someone saying “Stay ignorant and suboptimal. Let someone else better and more knowledgeable outshine all of your accomplishments. Do not progress.” There you go, all other arguments are invalid.

This is simple consumerism. Having a better vocabulary levels up your story and makes it more desirable. It gives the story a more reputable sell. “Oh, this person seems to have thought about what they are trying to say. That might apply to the story as well.” We’re working the AFF market.

Think of a company that makes very delicious chocolate. You love their chocolate. Now this company has come out with a recipe for chocolate chip cookies using their brand of chocolate. You have never tasted the cookie, but you know their chocolate is tasty. With that mindset, you develop a bias and start to believe that the cookie must taste good as well. When you actually taste the cookie, the cookie might be as good as you expected or not as good, but the chocolate is still wonderful so you are glad you tried it. That’s what it’s like to have a strong vocabulary in your story.

You’re getting smarter and your story is more desirable. There are the first two pros. The next pro is that your story will actually get better. This comes down to your story being less repetitive with descriptions and also being more specific in details.

Take for instance a description of Lee Minho. He’s tall, has a large nose, and sometimes has curly hair. That is not only a boring description, it is vague. There are so many other ways to that. You start using the same descriptions as other stories. Unless you know a different way to say what you mean, you’ll be just like the others, thereby lowering the value of your fic. Also, by using more specific words, you clarify what you mean. By tall you can mean bulky, muscular, and gigantic, or you could mean lanky or some other variation. His nose could be bulbous or just pointy or short and flat. Try and paint a better picture with your words.
 

When I am writing, I often have little moments when my mind blanks out and I can’t think of the right word. I usually look up the synonyms for a word I can remember and hope that the word I want is in the list. If it’s not there, I might reevaluate the word I want to use and perhaps choose a different one with a nearly similar implication, or I possibly sit on the word and come back to it later when I inevitably remember it. Either way, looking up words in a thesaurus is not bad.

The main argument that the ranter was trying to express was that if someone doesn’t speak English that well, it is not helpful to tell that person to use more words that he or she does not know. I’ve already said that I think that is counterproductive. It’s not like when you are using Korean words in your fic and you might be using words incorrectly or stupidly. If you are writing your fic in English, you should improve your English and use variations in your writing.

Imagine if someone who is not a native English speaker does not know another word for “smile” and uses that word every single time the characters make that expression. “Smile” every single time. No matter if the context is a warm smile or a sarcastic smile, it’s just “smile”. Not “leer” or “grin” or “smirk” or “beam” but “smile”. It really does matter. You need to look up different words.
 

Certain “power” words freshen up your story and overall make things better. These power words are the type that you might look up in a dictionary if you were unfamiliar with it. They can really help pop and bring attention to certain parts of your story.

So go out and zealously learn. Imbibe those words like a sponge. After learning words you will start to feel sanguine and people will look at you as an erudite author. Don’t exacerbate your readers will dull and mundane writing.

That being said. There is a clear negative. Using a lot of these power words does make it sound too wordy. Especially if the context is not right. Your characters should talk like normal people, not like a hopefully well thought out narrative. And this is an informal rant/blog/thing, using words outside normal conversational vocabulary is weird. It all comes down to using the words correctly.

Actually, when I was in that SAT “prep” class, we had a writing assignment where we had to write a story based on different pictures using a certain number of our vocabulary words. I made it a short fanfic about Zelo, and it was around 1000 words. Oh my gosh, I used so many “power” words that the whole story is lost in that vomit of nonsense. Link is above for reference.

Part of what that ranter said is right. If you don’t know what you are saying, you can make yourself sound stupid rather than intelligent. 

All in all, increasing your vocabulary is good. If a reviewer ever tells you to improve yourself, humbly accept the advice and start making friends with a dictionary or thesaurus. When you learn a new word, trying using it in your everyday vocabulary until it doesn't sound awkward anymore. Then you can start using it in your fics and use them in the right situation. There you go, you are now a successful chocolate company coming out with a new recipie for chocolate chip cookies.