Word Choice

I have a fox Familiar (telepathic animal companion) in Heart Quest. Well when I was writing the fox, I was also reading books about foxes by experts in the field (in all ways, meaning they were in the field observing foxes for about 20 years). In the general public’s view, foxes make noises and most particularly “bark.” Now the expert used the word “chortle” which he believes is the closest description of a sound that a fox makes at certain times. He can do that. He’s an expert.

You know what would happen if I used the word “chortle”? First my editor would strike it, then the copy editor would strike it. If I insisted, I’d probably not get reader comment (I’m not that important), but most readers would think “Chortle! What a stupid word to use to describe a fox barking…” So, of course, I’m not going to use it. I’ve used bark, and growl and other choices, but chortle (which I don’t tend to use anyway), will not show up with regard to the fox, Vertic.

Again, this is story and not real life. In real life, I can use the word chortle and discuss it or explain it to my listener. In a story, it might make a reader pause…and we all know what I think about giving readers time to pause.

Oh, and a reminder, when writing a rough draft and I keep using the same word three times in a paragraph, I DON’T stop. I just put ** by it, then when I’m revising, I’ll do a search for ** and clean it up.

Word choice is a part of style which is a part of an author’s voice – the words you choose and how you string them together, particularly if you’re writing fast and under deadline, as opposed to writing slowly and crafting every phrase to sing to the reader.

May all your words choose themselves today and be perfect!

Robin