Word Power
My teen daughter reminded me of a powerful tool in our writer’s arsenal: diction. Word choice. It matters what words we choose.
She told me that her friend was complaining about a strange girl in their class who constantly wears earphones, hums to herself, keeps to herself and rarely talks. Though she may or may not be on the autism spectrum as an explanation for her odd behavior, Megan’s friend nonetheless concluded, “she’s weird.”
“Not weird,” Megan insisted. “Different.”
Both words convey a similar meaning—someone not following accepted conventions for whatever reason. “Weird” implies a negative judgement. “Different” implies a statement of fact.
We need more tolerant, accommodating word choice in our schools, in our society, in our cultural discourse.
Who better to lead the charge than writers who are not just attuned to, but trained on the very power of diction?
We spend hours with our fingers hovering over the keyboard, trying to choose just the right word, the right phrase, the right sentence. Our only means of communicating with the reader is on the page. No verbal cues, no body language, no facial expressions to guide us. We get the power of words.
Since we’ve been given a great gift, let’s wield our power wisely. Let’s remind others that they, too, can choose words that help, not hurt, those around us.