Effective writing involves making conscious choices with words. When you prepare to sit down to write your first draft, you likely have already completed some freewriting exercises, chosen your topic, developed your thesis statement, written an outline, and even selected your sources. When it is time to write your first draft, start to consider which words to use to best convey your ideas to the reader.<\/p>\r\n
Some writers are picky about word choice as they start drafting. They may practice some specific strategies, such as using a dictionary and thesaurus, using words and phrases with proper connotations, and avoiding slang, clich\u00e9s, and overly general words.<\/p>\r\n
Once you understand these tricks of the trade, you can move ahead confidently in writing your assignment. Remember, the skill and accuracy of your word choice is a major factor in developing your writing style. Precise selection of your words will help you be more clearly understood\u2014in both writing and speaking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Even professional writers need help with the meanings, spellings, pronunciations, and uses of particular words. In fact, they rely on dictionaries to help them write better. No one knows every word in the English language and their multiple uses and meanings, so all writers, from novices to professionals, can benefit from the use of dictionaries.<\/p>\r\n
Most dictionaries provide the following information:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Look at the following sample dictionary entry and see which of the preceeding information you can identify:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Like a dictionary, a thesaurus is another indispensable writing tool. A thesaurus gives you a list of synonyms, words that have the same (or very close to the same) meaning as another word. It also lists antonyms, words with the opposite meaning of the word. A thesaurus will help you when you are looking for the perfect word with just the right meaning to convey your ideas. It will also help you learn more words and use the ones you already know more correctly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
precocious<\/strong> adj<\/em>, She\u2019s such a precocious little girl!<\/em>: uncommonly smart, mature, advanced, smart, bright, brilliant, gifted, quick, clever, apt.<\/p>\r\n Ant.<\/em> slow, backward, stupid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n A denotation<\/a><\/span> is the dictionary definition of a word. A connotation<\/a><\/span>, on the other hand, is the emotional or cultural meaning attached to a word. The connotation of a word can be positive, negative, or neutral. Keep in mind the connotative meaning when choosing a word.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Notice that all the words have a very similar denotation; however, the connotations of each word differ.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Exercise<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n In each of the following items, you will find words with similar denotations. Identify the words\u2019 connotations as positive, negative, or neutral by writing the word in the appropriate box. Copy the chart onto your own piece of paper.<\/p>\r\n\r\nUsing Proper Connotations<\/h1>\r\n
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