What is Word Choice in Writing?

Word choice is an important part of the craft of writing. The word choice definition refers to the words the author of a text uses in their writing to support their purpose. Every author has a purpose: a reason for why they write what they write. The words the author chooses allow a reader to connect with their purpose. Word choice impacts an author’s text in many ways and influences the reader as well. An analysis of word choice helps readers to understand the impact of the specific words on the piece.

Analysis of Author’s Word Choice

When an author begins their work, they have to consider the message they want readers to receive and the words that best communicate the message. Equally important as the words a writer uses are the words a writer avoids. It can be complicated to craft a text that meets the author’s purpose because an author not only has to weigh the words they use, but they also need to avoid misusing words or using jargon, cliches, and loaded language.

• Misused words – These are words that may be difficult to use correctly. Commonly misused words are homophones such as their, there, and they’re. Each version of this word sounds the same but has a completely different meaning. A writer needs to ensure they use the proper words or their meaning may not be clear.
• Jargon – This is verbiage that is usually specific to a field of study. Experts in a specific field may be able to understand jargon terms, but a person without expertise would not. For example, an airline pilot may understand the various acronyms and signs written in a guide about piloting aircraft, but someone who had never studied an aircraft would not.
• Cliches – These are words and phrases that are overused and imply that the author lacks creativity. For example, the phrase ‘better late than never’ has become so overused that it is now a cliche.
• Loaded language – This refers to words or phrases that elicit strong emotions from a reader, persuade a reader, or sway opinions. This can be an important part of a persuasive speech, especially in the realm of politics, but a writer who employs loaded language will lessen their authority on the topic they are writing about.

Weight of Words

The words that a writer selects carry ‘weight’. Words with more power to them are words with more weight. These words have more emphasis on them, and they are words that are not as commonly used. While a cliche is used so often that it has lost its weight, words with weight are the opposite. For example, these two sentences have the same meaning:

• The water was so cold it made my teeth hurt.
• The water was so frigid it made my teeth numb.

The second sentence uses words that have more weight. In this instance, the words frigid and numb carry more weight than the words cold and hurt. The lighter words are still not insignificant because they create the base that allows heavier words to stand out and grab the reader’s attention.

Elements of Word Choice

Words can be defined in two ways. The first way is their denotation — this is the definition of the word such as you might find in the dictionary. The second way a word can be defined is through the connotation — this is the implied meaning of the word.

Some questions the writer might have to ask are:

• What is the absolute meaning of the word they choose — how specific does the word need to be? For example, some words such as “tank” have different meanings. Let’s say the author writes: “She filled up the tank.” Does “tank” refer to a gas tank in a personal vehicle, a water tank, or a different type of tank? In this example the author will need to determine what clarifications are needed to ensure the word makes sense.
• What is the style of the piece the author is writing?
• Who is the audience?
• What is the tone of the piece?
• What level of diction best suits the author’s needs?

These are all important elements of word choice that contribute to the passage. Word choice impacts the amount and type of information being given, the mood or tone of a passage, and the details being given. With each word an author chooses, these questions must be taken into account and reassessed at each stage of drafting the text.

Word Choice and Verbs

Verbs are the action words of a text. Strong verbs written in an active voice are not only more engaging for the reader, but they also carry more weight as discussed previously. The verbs used by an author can also help the reader to analyze the tone and author’s purpose of a piece. Writers need to follow the standard English language subject-verb agreement rule while writing. A singular subject must have a singular verb, and a plural subject a plural verb. This rule can impact which verbs are appropriate in the text at certain times. Additionally, a writer needs to use the same verb tense throughout their piece. This is evident in the verbs that the writer selects. If the writer selects to write about events in the past, such as a historical event, the writer will use past tense verbs.

Word Choice Examples

Word choice can be somewhat difficult to explain without specific word choice examples. Look at the following sentences.

• Sentence 1: George Washington was the first president of the United States of America.
• Sentence 2: Katie and Arnold went on a camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Arnold proposed with an elaborate engagement ring.
• Sentence 3: When driving, be sure to observe the dashboard signals and symbols as this gives you important information about your vehicle and its need for maintenance.

In these three sentences, the words chosen all help to convey different tones. Sentence 1 is meant to provide historical information as can be seen from the words the author used. Sentence 2 is anecdotal; it provides a short scene about something that happened. In this case, the event happened in the past. Sentence 3 is technical in tone; words such as vehicle and maintenance make this sentence seem appropriate for a driver’s training manual, not a fiction story. From the words selected by the author, the reader can infer the author’s purpose in each sentence.

Analyzing Word Choice and Author’s Purpose in Short Stories

In a short story, the word choice of an author is directly linked to not only the author’s purpose but also the tone of the text. Authors will convey ideas and messages through the specific words they use. An author that wants to entertain an audience by allowing the reader to experience events firsthand will likely use vivid imagery and action-packed verbs. This is very different than an author that desires to impart information to an audience by providing technical steps or instructions. An author will likely use words that portray the protagonist in a positive light, whereas the antagonist will likely be portrayed through negative words. The words used are how the reader sees the characters, the main events, and the subject matter of a text.

Lesson Summary

Word choice in writing is a critical element to any text. The definition of word choice is the specific words that an author selects to convey meaning, tone, and actions as related to the author’s purpose. Word choice can be analyzed in short stories or long novels to help the reader understand how the author means to portray characters, events, and settings. An analysis of word choice can also help a reader to infer the purpose of the text such as if it is an instructional text, a text meant for enjoyment, a text meant to be mysterious, or a text meant to persuade and sway opinions. Some word choice examples that should be considered when writing are cliche phrases, misused words, jargon, or incorrect verbs. The verbs an author uses have significant weight to them. Although lighter words are not unimportant because they set the base for the text, the words with heavier weight stand out in a text more because they have more emphasis on them.