Why Falling In Love With The English Language Will Make You A Better Writer

Writers love words, right? Of course, we do! If you think about it, the essence of what we do is simply carefully selecting words to go next to one another to communicate thoughts, feelings, actions, drama, and everything else that goes into a piece of writing-  in an intelligent and entertaining way.

Sometimes, however, language, particularly the English language, can be tricky. We have a weird and wonderful vocabulary, strange spellings, bizarre catchphrases and grammar that sometimes seems to be completely and utterly illogical.

What’s not to like, right?!

But without words, we are nothing, so if you want to be a writer you need to embrace language, fall in love with it and make it work for you. When you have a good relationship with language it will excite you and amaze you. The joy that is captured in a perfect sentence, the way a particular line flows rhythmically and perfectly from the page, the powerful combination of words that make you truly understand exactly what the writer is trying to say - these all happen because of language - its beauty and its power.

How To Fall in Love with Language

Read

Think about the greatest books you have ever read? Or a poem that moved you to tears? Or a catchy line on a poster that made you smile? Language made all those things possible. If you can find a way to express yourself through language and writing, then you have the potential to change people’s lives, to give them hope, to make them laugh, to solve their problems. This is a beautiful thing, and therefore the power of language should never be underestimated. Think back to what inspired you to become a writer? Chances are it was something that you read.

Words got you to where you are today - you have a lot to thank them for.

If you haven’t fallen in love with language yet, never fear! The best way to do this is to read as much as you possibly can. Don’t just stick to a particular genre - be brave and read everything you can get your hands on. Soon you will be overwhelmed with the incredible diversity and ingenuity of language; you’ll find sentences which just sing out to you.

As Francine Prose wisely said 'The well-made sentence transcends time and genre. A beautiful sentence is a beautiful sentence'.

Get a dictionary

Ever read a book and been totally impressed with the author's range of vocabulary? The way they have put words together in a way that you would have never thought of? Well, you can do it too! Get a dictionary and start to go through it, or buy a book such as ‘A Word A Day’ which teaches you a word you probably haven’t heard of every single day. Learning about new words, their meaning and their heritage is pretty fascinating and will help you when it comes to writing your own book.

Do writing exercises.

If you feel as though you aren’t experimental enough with your language why not try some writing exercises where you write down as many adjectives and nouns as you can think of and cut them up into strips of paper, then play around by putting them next to one another and see what works?

Loving language will make you a better writer. The more words you know, the more you understand about language and the more you appreciate and respect it, the more you will be able to manipulate it and make it work for you, so what are you waiting for? Fall in love with language today!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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