Heya!
I stumbled upon this image maybe a month or two ago and now remembered it as I've started writing my CK2 AAR (insert shameless advertising here) and decided to share it.
This is basically a chart which gives you a few extra words which you could use when describing a certain feeling, for those who speak english as their native language this probably isn't much of use, but I believe that other people and even those who speak and write english very well can benefit from this.
I find myself often using very simple language because I think in english when I write english and thus the voice inside my head has quite limited vocabulary because the thoughts come and go pretty fast and then they include simple words that come to the mind at first, instead of those "more complicated words". I also have to admit that often when writing a long story I just want to get it done so I may not use so much time on thinking how could I make this better.
Now let's see what good could that chart do.
As an example, if I'd describe a heated debate between two people and wanted to give you the expression of them being angry I might write something like the following:
Person X's answer offended person Z so he angrily hit the table with his fist.
-- insert maybe 2 lines of text --
Person X was angry because zero progress was achieved despite the long debate
Here you see me using the word "angry" twice in a very quick succession, as the writer I won't probably even notice it because it seems rather logical way of expressing myself. However the reader may lose his interest in the text if there is very little variation for expressing things. The following is an example how to write the same thing but it doesn't sound as simplified and thus (at least for me) looks a lot more interesting: (Proofreading note: You can see me using the word interesting here twice even if I could have ended that with the synonym attractive to make it... more attractive
)
Person X's answer offended person Z so he angrily bashed the table.
-- insert maybe 2 lines of text --
Person X was infuriated because zero progress was achieved despite the long debate
Gives a bit different feeling?
If you use a translator a lot when writing to make sure that you have the right words when writing (like I do), think about using some other word than the first one the translator gives you (especially if it gives you multiple words) but then make sure that the word actually makes any sense there.
J.K Rowling uses the word "ejaculate" quite constantly in Harry Potter books. Native english speakers may understand here already where I'm aiming but others are thinking that I'm not totally off topic. It is apparently a totally valid word to use for a quick exclamation or a shout, but even I wouldn't have known that if I didn't look for alternatives for the word "shout" a couple of days ago when writing my AAR so it may be worthwhile to think a bit before using such words because in multicultural forums not everyone understands everything and then you might scare off readers if your text is too difficult to read and is teeming with words that you have to check trough a translator.
Writers who talk english as their first language!
Because you must notice these things a lot more often than I do, please, give us others a hint or two when you pass by.
What are the most important things to do to make the text appealing and interesting?
I stumbled upon this image maybe a month or two ago and now remembered it as I've started writing my CK2 AAR (insert shameless advertising here) and decided to share it.
This is basically a chart which gives you a few extra words which you could use when describing a certain feeling, for those who speak english as their native language this probably isn't much of use, but I believe that other people and even those who speak and write english very well can benefit from this.
I find myself often using very simple language because I think in english when I write english and thus the voice inside my head has quite limited vocabulary because the thoughts come and go pretty fast and then they include simple words that come to the mind at first, instead of those "more complicated words". I also have to admit that often when writing a long story I just want to get it done so I may not use so much time on thinking how could I make this better.
Now let's see what good could that chart do.
As an example, if I'd describe a heated debate between two people and wanted to give you the expression of them being angry I might write something like the following:
Person X's answer offended person Z so he angrily hit the table with his fist.
-- insert maybe 2 lines of text --
Person X was angry because zero progress was achieved despite the long debate
Here you see me using the word "angry" twice in a very quick succession, as the writer I won't probably even notice it because it seems rather logical way of expressing myself. However the reader may lose his interest in the text if there is very little variation for expressing things. The following is an example how to write the same thing but it doesn't sound as simplified and thus (at least for me) looks a lot more interesting: (Proofreading note: You can see me using the word interesting here twice even if I could have ended that with the synonym attractive to make it... more attractive
)Person X's answer offended person Z so he angrily bashed the table.
-- insert maybe 2 lines of text --
Person X was infuriated because zero progress was achieved despite the long debate
Gives a bit different feeling?
If you use a translator a lot when writing to make sure that you have the right words when writing (like I do), think about using some other word than the first one the translator gives you (especially if it gives you multiple words) but then make sure that the word actually makes any sense there.
J.K Rowling uses the word "ejaculate" quite constantly in Harry Potter books. Native english speakers may understand here already where I'm aiming but others are thinking that I'm not totally off topic. It is apparently a totally valid word to use for a quick exclamation or a shout, but even I wouldn't have known that if I didn't look for alternatives for the word "shout" a couple of days ago when writing my AAR so it may be worthwhile to think a bit before using such words because in multicultural forums not everyone understands everything and then you might scare off readers if your text is too difficult to read and is teeming with words that you have to check trough a translator.
Writers who talk english as their first language!
Because you must notice these things a lot more often than I do, please, give us others a hint or two when you pass by.
What are the most important things to do to make the text appealing and interesting?
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