Why is the right Word Important?

You ask:
“Why is the right word important? Is any ole word good enough? No. Not even in commercial fiction. You can be a hack, but damn, you can be a good hack…
“Can you do it in a second, third, or fourth draft?
“Also consider when word choice goes wrong and how it might affect a reader.”

“You can be a hack, but damn, you can be a good hack.”

This phrase made me think of Robert Jordan. He is has been on my mind of late. The next book in his series is coming out in October and I’m waiting with baited breath. Years ago, I remember critics calling him a “hack.” With twelve million copies of his books printed in North America alone, I wouldn’t mind being a “hack” like him ;)

Why is the right word important?

Now this question reminded me of a book on editing titled Getting the Words Right: How to Revise, Edit and Rewrite by Theordore A. Rees Cheney. This particular book spoke to me, it gave me courage to make drastic revisions on my first draft, to literally cut chapters (probably 3 or 4) right out. Not an easy thing to do to your first book on your first draft.

I pick it up and flip through looking for more words of wisdom. The first two paragraphs of the introduction read:

“This is a book about writing, rewriting, rereading, reviewing, rethinking, rearranging, repairing, restructuring, reevaluating, editing, tightening, sharpening, smoothing, pruning, polishing, punching up, amending, emending, altering, eliminating, transposing, expanding, condensing, connecting, cohering, unifying, perfecting.
“One of my initial problems was to find a single word that would convey all those related and connotative meanings. After much thinking, and reflecting on what others have thought, I realized that the most useful, most inclusive word was revision.”

Not only does this show the importance of using the right word, if I moved on to your next question, “Can you do it in a second, third, or fourth draft?” I realize that “using the right word” is about revision.

Finding the right word(s) will invoke the intended emotion from the reader. It will send the reader in the direction that the author chooses. Using the wrong word will confuse your reader, or worse, invoke the wrong feelings, which will eventually leave the reader unsatisfied.

The author must revise, revise, revise until they find the right word (and/or string of words) to convey what they mean. It is an author’s responsibility to the reader to lead them in the right direction so they will experience a satisfying story.