Great vocabulary is an indispensable tool, along with grammar to make your writing more powerful and effective and help you say exactly what you mean. Building your vocabulary is one of the easiest ways to improve the power of your writing and make any writing task much easier, as you will have several synonyms in your repertoire to pull from every time.
There are various ways to improve writing vocabulary.
Reading
Reading becomes a thing of the past as soon as we are out of the school. While this is the most important tool for building vocabulary. Try to read a well-written and edited essay, magazine article, book or news article every day. This will quickly teach you new ways to think and speak.
Use a Dictionary
Keep a dictionary handy and use it when you find yourself using a word too often, or when you do not know it’s meaning. This will help you better express yourself, and you’ll also learn a new word in the process.
Use New Words
Use a word immediately after you learn it. Every day, try writing a journal entry, an assignment or an email to a friend. Do this as often as possible, and repeat the word to yourself.
Learn New Words
Make an effort to learn at least one new word every single day. There are plenty of ways to do this, such as picking a random word from a thesaurus or dictionary, keeping a note of words you have read anywhere.
Using meaningful words
Many a times your speech includes conversation fillers (such as “uh” or “um”), but your writing probably also has such words. Look for these words in your writing that do not offer any substance to your reader and replace them with something more appropriate.
Solve Word Puzzles
Word puzzles in the newspaper or a magazine are perfect for boosting your working vocabulary. Crossword puzzles are a challenge that get your brain working hard to search your memory for words you do know but don’t use.
Practice New Words in Various Ways
It takes between 10 and 20 repetitions to make a new word a part of your vocabulary. To help the word settle into your mind and memory, write it down (both the definition and a sentence you make up using the word), use it in conversation, include it in an email or any other way you can think of.
Make Synonym Word Lists
Another good way to improve vocabulary is keeping a note of the words which you use again and again. In that case, brainstorm or use a dictionary to generate a list of ten to twenty new words you can use instead. You can keep these lists in a vocabulary notebook and add to them whenever you learn a new synonym.
Edit Your Own Writing
Editing is an important process for spotting writing errors, but it’s also great for improving the vocabulary. Search through your memory for more descriptive words, or consult a thesaurus if you need to.
Ask for Feedback
If you’re struggling with your written vocabulary, try asking someone else for help. A second set of eyes can offer a great deal of insight and spot problems you may not notice yourself, including poor word choice. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend, teacher, co-worker or someone online to review your writing for feedback on your vocabulary.
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