Anne Lamott and Neal Allen on plain spoken writing, why fancy words lose your reader, and how to find the one word that is exactly right. Everyone tells writers to burnish it, make it pop, make it bounce off the page. Not here. Quoting the Mrs. Doubtfire screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer: tell me a story, make me care. Give us plain English, a character we can know, a setting we can stand in, a plot that moves. There is, as they note, so little of it. Neal's rules put it hardest of all: if it sounds literary, it isn't. It is showing off, and it has to come out. His father taught him to use nickel words rather than twenty-five cent ones, because a reader who has to look something up stops turning the page. That does not make the thesaurus the enemy. They call it a book of magic spells. There is a perfect word for what you mean, and your job is to go find it. As Neal says, it isn't supposed to already be in your head. He is not Shakespeare. They close on rule six, prefer Anglo-Saxon words, and why English gives you two words for everything. Two streams feed the language, Germanic and Scandinavian from the north, Latinate cognates from the south. The multisyllabic, faintly boring words tend to come from the south. The crisp ones that drop you straight into a scene come from the north. Choose accordingly, because a confused reader quickly becomes an antagonistic one. Want to go deeper with Anne Lamott and Neal Allen? Join Sounds True One for more teachings like this. Get your first month FREE at https://bit.ly/4ctecMn Subscribe to Sounds True's YouTube Channel ► https://bit.ly/SubscribeSTYT Sounds True is a mission-driven learning and media company, and a recognized leader in wellbeing, personal growth, and spiritual transformation. Partnering with the world’s foremost wisdom teachers and best-selling authors, the company reaches millions worldwide with its unique programs, digital learning experiences, and worldwide events. The company also features a variety of original series, weekly shows, and live online experiences on Sounds True One, its global platform and community with members across more than 125 countries. Sounds True is a Public Benefit Corporation and also the home of the Sounds True Foundation. Connect with us: ▪️Facebook: http://bit.ly/2XFIIeE ▪️Instagram: http://bit.ly/2UlEoiH ▪️Website: http://bit.ly/2tOl02d