Incorrectly Imitating Literary Prowress(Assignment #6)
No one wants to read a sentence like the one below:
"The exquisitely gradual metamorphisis of Sophia's visage from a resemblance of atrocity to a recreation of an instance of endearment was astounding."
It's not just the large vocabulary dragging large painful words through your mind one after the other. It isn't just the interruption in the flow of the sentence that causes you to forget what you read. It's a combination of these things and more.
Trying to make your writing overly complex in order to seem intelligent only ends up doing quite the opposite. Being a good writer does not mean simply knowing large words and being able to put tons of them into one sentence. Many wonderful writers tend to use smaller simpler words in order to construe very complex and incredible thoughts. Many writers create their own writing style that can sound just as intelligent without forcing it throught ridiculous words. Take this quote from Douglas Adams for example:
"The spaceship hung in the air, much the way a brick doesn't."
There is nothing overly complicated about this. I don't see any large words, nor the sentence being stretched out as long as it can be in order to make it seem like a more interesting and complete thought. This sentence is short and sweet, but it still carries a complexity in it's meaning.
By using large words in places where they do not belong, you only manage to make the persona come off as being arrogant, uninteresting, and dim-witted. If you have a persona who is supposedly well educated and versed, make sure you are correctly using the words yourself in order to keep the idea flowing smoothly and delicately.
"The exquisitely gradual metamorphisis of Sophia's visage from a resemblance of atrocity to a recreation of an instance of endearment was astounding."
It's not just the large vocabulary dragging large painful words through your mind one after the other. It isn't just the interruption in the flow of the sentence that causes you to forget what you read. It's a combination of these things and more.
Trying to make your writing overly complex in order to seem intelligent only ends up doing quite the opposite. Being a good writer does not mean simply knowing large words and being able to put tons of them into one sentence. Many wonderful writers tend to use smaller simpler words in order to construe very complex and incredible thoughts. Many writers create their own writing style that can sound just as intelligent without forcing it throught ridiculous words. Take this quote from Douglas Adams for example:
"The spaceship hung in the air, much the way a brick doesn't."
There is nothing overly complicated about this. I don't see any large words, nor the sentence being stretched out as long as it can be in order to make it seem like a more interesting and complete thought. This sentence is short and sweet, but it still carries a complexity in it's meaning.
By using large words in places where they do not belong, you only manage to make the persona come off as being arrogant, uninteresting, and dim-witted. If you have a persona who is supposedly well educated and versed, make sure you are correctly using the words yourself in order to keep the idea flowing smoothly and delicately.