What’s the easiest way to give your writing voice an upgrade? Word bling!

Last month, we started the year-long Writing Voice Adventure by reading aloud works from authors we admire and seeing what inspires us. (Check out YouTube for a quick demo of how to approach this task.)

This month, we focus on word choice. By strategically swapping out drab, lifeless verbs or adjectives with sparkly, punchy ones, you can shift the way your writing voice lands with readers. It’s low effort, high reward!

Some words have an outsized impact on voice — like an accessory that makes the outfit. Find words you love to dress up your prose. Look for:

• Words that land on the inner ear, often short with strong consonant sounds: strike, grump, bounce, or that sound like what they represent (onomatopoeic words): thwack, screech, clap
• Words that make you smile or catch your attention — preposterous, swerve, pal
• Words with character, including unusual words or phrases from another era: bone-wracking, persnickety, besmirch

What to do right now

Find an email, essay, or post that you’ve written and pick one dull word to replace. Swap in a high-impact word and read it aloud. What does it do to your writing voice? What if you replace two words? Three?

As with accessories, beware of piling up too much word bling. You can go too far with this one, although it might be fun to try.

Build on it all month

To make the most of this practice, dedicate this month to exploring how word choices affect voice.

In your reading: Look for unusual words in the books, newsletters and articles. Make a list of words that make you smile or catch your attention, and pick a few to try yourself.

As you write: Make a point of finding fun or frivolous words. Visit an online thesaurus. Add a standout word to an email.

Related content

Why writing voice is like a pair of shoes: you need more than one. Finding a Writing Voice that Fits

Find a related exercise (also from The Writer’s Voice) on writing with single syllable words: Writing Yoga: Short Words.

You can follow along in The Writer’s Voice. (Find it on the usual retailers, or purchase the PDF directly from me.)

Rather watch? Watch the video of this exercise on YouTube: