Are our words enough?

I wonder sometimes if there are enough words to convey what it is that I’m trying to describe. People, scenes, actions, behaviours, character traits and so on. Do we posses enough in our vocabulary?

Over centuries, our language has evolved. We’ve added, taken away, and invented new words and phrases. And as each new generation comes along, more words are added to the dictionary – even if it is just the street edition.

Existing words are taken and given new meaning, or they’re used in a more common way, for example, have you heard anyone say ‘slay’ lately? If you’re over 40, the constant use of ‘slay’ might just make you want to reach out and slap the nearest mouth it comes out of, but all the kids are using it – some young adults too! It’s cool, trendy, the next new thing. Next year, it’ll be something else equally as ‘cringe’.

But these examples aside, do we still struggle to convey appropriately our thoughts, feelings, ideas and concepts? There was a time when I wasn’t able to verbalise the word ‘beautiful’ – I somehow felt silly saying it, like it was too ‘posh’ to come out of my mouth. How odd is that? It’s not a word I recall hearing growing up, and coming from a low-working-class background, vocab and pronunciation were somewhat limited due to poor levels of education and lower-class, regionalised ways of communicating (unfortunately, some accents just make people sound dumb).

That said, my parents wanted the best for me and there were always books. I read, and read, as a child, and even taught myself how to spell and make correct use of grammar and punctuation. I recall having library cards – the little pink wallets that would be left at the library with the white bookmark-style card from the book I had borrowed inside it. Sometimes, there would be several – I think I had six pink library wallets, meaning I could borrow up to six books at a time. The pink wallets were later replaced by blue or green ones, and as I got older, my reading interests evolved.

I loved literature and language and developed my own way of doing things over time – teaching myself and throwing effort and energy into English at secondary school. I enjoyed Shakespeare even, and remember books such as ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, which profoundly impacted me. I wrote stories, poetry, essays and researched new words in the dictionary, just for fun. Reading and writing were such an important part of my growing up, and my skills in these areas allowed me to do well in other subjects too.

And thinking about it, I’ve always written. For work, for leisure and pleasure. I’ve created training information and induction packs, job descriptions and interview questions. I’ve written reports, newsletters, and magazine articles. I’ve drafted pitch decks and produced sales emails. I’ve put together marketing campaigns and designed content for social media. I’ve written songs, made up rhymes for my kids, and I’ve journaled, extensively. I’ve also completed so many study notes, assignments, and essays.

But what I haven’t yet done, is write a book.

I began writing my first book just a few weeks ago, and it was then that I realised I needed to better engage with vocabulary. I would need new and different words to describe things. I would need to reach outside of my own language experiences, especially I am to include characters from different cultures. And I would need to be able to describe things from my character’s perspective, not just my own. My characters will take on their own thoughts and feelings, and will experience things that I have not. I therefore need to give careful consideration to their world view and the language they might use.

I knew I’d need some help, and so I took to one of my favourite local charity shops. This particular shop is huge, set over two floors, and contains all manner of things – from sofas and guitars to clothing and vinyl records. I spent some time looking through the thousands of books upstairs, and came across a good sized section concerned with English, and writing. I selected a few books, one about writing for a living and a couple more geared towards improving research methods and improving writing skills. I also came across the ‘Oxford Dictionary Of Slang’ by John Ayto, and a book by Judy Parkinson which is all about ‘Popular Expressions – What They Mean And Where We Got Them’.

I left the shop with several books that day and I’m slowly making my way through. My goal is to explore my own knowledge of the English language and incorporate new and different words into my characters’ dialogue, as well as my own descriptive text. In order to truly engage the reader, my words have to be enough – after all, this is a book, not a play or movie. Words must capture the imagination of the reader and hold them in a space, and in time, within a scene, and with people (the characters) they’ve never met, but come to understand and in some cases, even love (or hate). My words will make or break my story, and they will either help me develop a readership, or they won’t.

If you’ve made it this far, you will have laughed or winced during an earlier paragraph, at the thought of slapping a child or teenager in the mouth for using the word ‘slay’. It will have provoked a thought, a feeling, and an opinion on the topic of physically harming a minor – am I right? Good. Because my words are designed to elicit an emotional response from you, the reader. You won’t always like what you’re reading, and you won’t always agree with it, but if you stick with it long enough, you might come to understand it. If I can use words to make you laugh, cry, wince or even throw up, then I’ve done my job correctly.

I shall continue to explore language and I look forward to learning new words, meanings, expressions, and even some slang. I’ll put them all to good use and hopefully, create something you’ll enjoy reading, even if you do want to reach out and slap me part way through a chapter! I’ll take it. Because I love to write… it’s a beautiful expression of mind, body, and spirit, and writing is a part of who I am.