Topic:Diction (in terms of writing)

Many a times, we streamline diction to the way a person speaks or uses words while speaking. This is absolutely normal and correct. But today, we'll be looking at the role of diction in writing.

Before we get into it properly, let's find out the meaning of diction.
From my dictionary, diction means the effectiveness and degree of clarity of word choice, and presentation of said words. This simply means, how clear your choice of words are and how well you present them while speaking.

I'm sure you've heard some people speak and you're like, "wow! This person can speak English o!"
This just means the person knows the right words to use at every point in time, diction.

Now let's bring it down to writing...
Think about this; Is it actually possible to wake up one beautiful morning and you decide to write about something without first having ‘words’ on your mind for it?
Well, I don't think so! You must first have words that you want to put down before you can say you are writing...
This obviously means you can't write 'jack' ie anything without first knowing the right words to use.
Let's say you want to write about the anatomy of the human body. You have to first know the right terms to use to deliver the topic.

From all said above, we can draw our first conclusion that diction, meaning word choice, enables us to choose the write words while writing any piece of work!
This invariably means that for you to develop good writing skills, you must first develop your diction.
Why is that? You may ask. It's pretty simple, diction is an essential factor on which your style of writing, tone of writing and point of view literally depends on.
Now if you don't have the right words for your article, story, etc, you can not pass the message you intend to.
Let's look at some ways you could work with diction( choosing the right words) while writing.
• Always try as much as possible to replace boring and lame words with words that are more interesting and descriptive
Let's bring this point home with an example.
“Nelson Mandela's high effort towards apartheid was for a good reason”
This sentence is nice but it's just too plain with no flavour to keep a reader engaged.
Now let's twitch it a little. How about we replace 'high effort’ with 'fight' (which looks more like an action and sounds more interesting), then ‘good’ with ‘just’ ( more is more descriptive) and then finally ‘reason’ with ‘course’.
In place of the previous, we have; “Nelson Mandela's fight against apartheid was for a just course.”
Now doesn't that sound nicer and more engaging?

Another example for clarity sake; “The meat was cut into small pieces”
How about we replace ‘cut’ with ‘sliced’ and 'small pieces' to ‘sizable chunks'?
Then we have; “The meat was sliced into sizable chunks.”
Now I know you'll be like, na naija  we dey, 'pieces sure pass'. Lol

Trust me, using the right diction will get you more readers. It also shows how intellectually sound you are. But that doesn't mean you should kill you readers with big words o! This brings us to the next point.
• Try not to use complex words that might make your writing too confusing and difficult to understand.
Let's look at an example!
“The deteriorating state of Nigeria is the cause of the many pandemonium plaguing every parastatals.”
Well done! With this, you could stand a chance of winning Hon Patrick's heart but I doubt if you will be able to win a reader's heart.

How about if we reduce the grammar, at least to make readers flow better.

Let's say we use 'degenerating' instead of 'deteriorating', ‘lawlessness’ instead of 'pandemonium', ‘affecting’ instead of ‘plaguing’ and finally ‘government organizations' instead of 'parastatals'.
Which will leave with, "The degenerating state of the country is the cause of the lawlessness affecting every government organization.”

Now with this, a reader can be more enlightened  than the first because the words are more understandable.

The point is, using the right word choice don't necessarily entail or mean that you should use difficult words.
Remember, it isn’t about using big vocabulary that will end up confusing everyone who reads your work. It also isn’t about making them run to a dictionary at the sight of every word.

Try to create a balance between your word choice!
We're moving to the next point... Which is the second to the last. So don't give up now, lol.

• Replace vague words with specific ones
It just means to replace words that aren't clear that don't really give much details with one that are clear and more definite.
An example will simplify this...
“Today is Mbube's market day. There will be lots of persons doing plenty things at the market.”
This is okay, but it doesn't pass any specific message. So let's work on it.
“Today, being Tuesday, is Mbube's market day. There will be lots of buyers and sellers, buying and selling their goods and services at the market.”
From the above, you can see how specific and well detailed it has become.

So while writing, you should use words that are specific! Giving more details to your work.
Last but not the least...

• Use the right words that suit the context
Now, don't say because you want to make your work wordy and nice and all that, then you begin to use the words that don't fit. It’s like wearing an oversized clothe.
This will only make your work lose it's touch and then your message will not be passed
You can't write;  He assassinated the goat.
Neither can you write; The chief was butchered.

Final note: No matter how much you would love to spice up your write up with mind blowing words, be sure to stay within the context. Use the right words that fit and pass your message.

So I'll leave you with ‘KISS’ which simply means *K- keep, I- it, S- short and S- simple. This should always be your target but don't forget to express yourself while writing!

Let me drop a sort of writing game. You could try it out if you want to.
Simply use the words that you feel will be right for this sentence
“The catastrophic consequences of the judiciary's consistent wrong choices is nothing to write home about.”

That will be all for today.

Moderated by Jennifer Chioma Amadi:a creative Writer and a Storyteller.