Writing Do you need incredible vocabulary to construct a good story?

Do you need incredible vocabulary to construct a good story?

  • Yes, totally!

    Votes: 10 26.3%
  • What the fuck are you on? Hell no!

    Votes: 28 73.7%

  • Total voters
    38
  • Poll closed .

BenJepheneT

Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts
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Yeah, yeah big surprise. The shitposter makes a coherent post. Put your pants back on cause' this is one of the many to come.

Just as the title asked, do you need top-tier, expert, damn-near amazing, thesaurus-beating vocabulary to write a quality story? If you can grasp that small set of words from your tiny mental dictionary, master them, and weave out a coherent story, is it possible that you can make something impressive out of it?

And before you slide in your SH story link going "I don't know about that but I did my story with low vocab so why not try mine and see-" how about you put that dick back in your pants, eh?

I'm talking about early Harry Potter and those children fiction (e.g: How To Train Your Dragon). Sure, they manage to make good story using simple words but those people have all nine editions of Oxford in their heads. If we simple folk can gather all of our power and utilize that tiny knowledge of words to its maximum, can we make a story just as good as theirs?
 

Kotohood

Noob Author
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May 17, 2019
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103
Make a good story? No.

I've seen many childrens book that made good stories.

Construct an excellent one? Maybe. And that's a a big maybe.
 

YuriDoggo

Angery Doggo >ᴗ<
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Mar 23, 2019
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Not gunna vote because your "no" option is too enthusiastic. That said, not really.
 

Assurbanipal_II

Empress of the Four Corners of the World
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Yeah, yeah big surprise. The shitposter makes a coherent post. Put your pants back on cause' this is one of the many to come.

Just as the title asked, do you need top-tier, expert, damn-near amazing, thesaurus-beating vocabulary to write a quality story? If you can grasp that small set of words from your tiny mental dictionary, master them, and weave out a coherent story, is it possible that you can make something impressive out of it?

And before you slide in your SH story link going "I don't know about that but I did my story with low vocab so why not try mine and see-" how about you put that dick back in your pants, eh?

I'm talking about early Harry Potter and those children fiction (e.g: How To Train Your Dragon). Sure, they manage to make good story using simple words but those people have all nine editions of Oxford in their heads. If we simple folk can gather all of our power and utilize that tiny knowledge of words to its maximum, can we make a story just as good as theirs?

That is a coherent post?

Anyway, what is your definition of "good"? Successful or high literary quality? Because the answer might depend.

Nevertheless, in both cases, the answer is no, not necessarily.
 

MrTiemos

DinoSir, thank you very much!
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
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A good plot, somewhat fleshed-out characters and setting, and coherent writing makes for a good story.
If you want a great story, vocabulary will garner the interest of a more mature audience, while repetitive use of simpler words will help a more youthful audience.

Of course, vocabulary isn’t nearly everything in writing.
 

Ace_Arriande

Well-known member
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Jan 2, 2019
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If you want to write some fancy-schmancy "literary" fiction, then maybe. If you want to create literally any other type of story, no.
 

UltraRob

Member
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Sep 10, 2019
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No and yes.

The basic building blocks of storytelling aren't that complex, and anyone can do it. Your ability to tell a good story isn't linked to your level of diction (vocabulary + ability to use it), and most people can either tell stories or learn to do it pretty simply. I've seen 90 year old grandmothers who never finished elementary school who were great storytellers.

On the other hand, even those grandmothers might have had a hard time telling a long story like a novel or webnovel well. The ability to tell longer stories well requires a lot of intelligence, creativity and organizational skills, and people who have those things almost always have strong vocabularies. They don't need that vocabulary to write, but it's hard to find someone who writes well who doesn't have it.
 

Silver_Sky

Well-known member
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Aug 3, 2019
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it depends on the story a history, drama or a mystery is a definite yes. As for any other story as long as long as it flows together correctly your probably fine. Although I have preference if the characters doesn't sound like a thug every time he/she opens their mouths it's also better if you don't add 'dated terms' but this turned into a ramble all in all your probably fine and if you aren't take the experience and make a new story with what you learned
 

Mcoorlim

Active member
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Oct 12, 2019
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You need a vocabulary appropriate to your audience. Past that? Understanding story structure is a bigger deal. Consistency - and by that I mean not contradicting yourself. Past that, maybe find a good editor or at least someone who can tell you if what you're writing makes sense.

That's really it.
 

Yorda

Villainess Yorda the Virtuous Flower of Evil
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Aug 9, 2019
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Ahahaha.
You need a vocabulary appropriate to your audience.
That is a fantastic point to make.

I haven't considered the audience for my story. Based on the various comments, compliments, and criticisms I received, my audience is a mixed bag of erratic people who are on opposite sides of what they want to see in the story. Also, it appears that I have a lot of readers who are not native English speakers.

Anyways, I don't force myself to cater to my broader audiences' fickle whims: I focus on my writing goals that I have set out for my series. I want to write a serious story targeting a more mature audience. The general mood of my story is to be a severe and desperate struggle with some comedic moments. I want to write a story that gets readers engaged and thinking. A well varied vocabulary is something I want for my story because I want to write a story that makes both me and my audience well read. If the vocabulary makes my story labourious and unpleasant to read, rather than descriptive and engaging, then I have failed.
 

Assurbanipal_II

Empress of the Four Corners of the World
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Ahahaha.

That is a fantastic point to make.

I haven't considered the audience for my story. Based on the various comments, compliments, and criticisms I received, my audience is a mixed bag of erratic people who are on opposite sides of what they want to see in the story. Also, it appears that I have a lot of readers who are not native English speakers.

Anyways, I don't force myself to cater to my broader audiences' fickle whims: I focus on my writing goals that I have set out for my series. I want to write a serious story targeting a more mature audience. The general mood of my story is to be a severe and desperate struggle with some comedic moments. I want to write a story that gets readers engaged and thinking. A well varied vocabulary is something I want for my story because I want to write a story that makes both me and my audience well read. If the vocabulary makes my story labourious and unpleasant to read, rather than descriptive and engaging, then I have failed.

Wonderful. :blob_reach: When do we get the next chapter? I am already suffering from abstinence.
 
Last edited:

IvyVeritas

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When an author's language gets too flowery and pretentious, I skip over it. If the language doesn't contribute to the story, it doesn't belong there. You need a good enough vocabulary to make sure everything flows correctly and that you're not too repetitive, and you should keep a thesaurus and dictionary handy to help with that, but beyond that, you only need what you need to tell the story. I'd say a mastery of grammar, sentence structure, and story structure is more important than vocabulary.
 

Wretch

Undead men tell tales
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I cant say much from an authors point of view, I've only really been successfully able to garner audience with one story, but from a readers point of view? I love long stories with complex language, stuff that bends your mind and shows you new possibilities. I guess what I'm trying to say here is, you don't need the most developed vocabulary to win at writing, but as long as you don't get archaic, an extensive knowledge of the language you're writing in can only help you express your story more clearly, and give it life.

An example would be: Someone of low birth in a feudal society would speak slang, more rough language. While a noble (or scholar as you would have it) speaks eloquent language with more complex sentences and ten-dollar words.

Vocabulary is a tool, and like Earnest Hemingway you can make it the most direct and short words, or like Shakespeare you can use flowery language and pretentious idioms...

Without vocabulary you handicap yourself, and as you write you find yourself learning more vocabulary naturally. So no matter if you start small, or you've been reading thesaurus's for fun (me) just let it come naturally. In the end as a writer, vocabulary is something you develop anyway.

Well, that got long. („ಡωಡ„)
 

Sinpathy

Well-known member
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Sep 16, 2019
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Structure of words, and finding a good pace, understanding how coherent your lines are to someone else... Etc.

Vocabulary is just to make your writing less inhibitive, and gives you a more accessible way to approach your descriptions. You wouldn't want your verbs and adjectives to always have the same words.

I'm no expert either, so I look up the online thesaurus so I have similar-sounding alternatives to them.
 

DaoFox

『Silkmaid』『Queen Sylvia Glasscrest of Arya』
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Dec 23, 2018
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a good story is made by the plot and how well you tailor its presentation to the intended audience. good grammar and structure is necessary for uninterrupted reading flow, but by no means does having an amazing vocab lead to an amazing story. I obsess over grammar because I don't enjoy seeing errors in writing that leads to vague sections that can be misunderstood or will cause readers to leave, but I wouldn't think people are anymore interested in reading it than had I posted it with my horrid 1st draft writing with the same plot developments.
 

YuriDoggo

Angery Doggo >ᴗ<
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I like stories with above average English. Things more like those paper back fantasies like Shannara. The webnovels written these days are really too simple and... empty for me.
 

CupcakeNinja

Pervert Supreme
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Yeah, yeah big surprise. The shitposter makes a coherent post. Put your pants back on cause' this is one of the many to come.

Just as the title asked, do you need top-tier, expert, damn-near amazing, thesaurus-beating vocabulary to write a quality story? If you can grasp that small set of words from your tiny mental dictionary, master them, and weave out a coherent story, is it possible that you can make something impressive out of it?

And before you slide in your SH story link going "I don't know about that but I did my story with low vocab so why not try mine and see-" how about you put that dick back in your pants, eh?

I'm talking about early Harry Potter and those children fiction (e.g: How To Train Your Dragon). Sure, they manage to make good story using simple words but those people have all nine editions of Oxford in their heads. If we simple folk can gather all of our power and utilize that tiny knowledge of words to its maximum, can we make a story just as good as theirs?
If you need big, fancy vocabularies to write good stories then you are a pretty shit writer to begin with. You are just telling a story. Not publishing a thesis.

Certain higher-level words can paint a better picture if used well. But they only serve to enhance what is already there.

You need variety so it dont get boring reading the same words over and over. But that's about it.
 

With_Many_Voices

Active member
Joined
Apr 10, 2019
Messages
3
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43
Like people have been saying, complex is not necessary but variety is and sentence structure is. You don't want to be constantly repeating the same few words but you also don't want your regular characters speaking like a linguist.
 

mrsimple

Writer
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
251
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63
Vocabulary... That depends on how much ya know and your writing style. Some words stand out further than others and the readers might take a note of them. If that happens, they are a tad more focused on that word than they are on being immersed in your story. :blob_blank:

Style + Grammar = Vocabulary :blob_hmm_two:

In my honest to God opinion, I would not go out of your way to create these great lines with words you wouldn't comfortably speak of regularly in your story. There is a good chance that might cause a reader to pause and think. That part there, right there! Ya dun wanna do that. You want them to keep going deeper into that story and they most probably do too. If not, well, that's their interest working around whatever you wrote. I would know, I'm totally guilty of those poorly executed shenanigans. I thought they'd make me look smart. The story shouldn't be about how clever ya arem unless that is what the story's about...? As for me, I hope to one day learn from my terrible mistakes. :blob_no:

So, for now and the rest of my life, I have completely accepted my simpleminded existence. Here's hoping ya all are more capable than I am. :blob_sweat:
 
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