It is not uncommon to read a book and just be amazed. How did the author think of using this word here? It’s a word you know, but you never could have thought of it. In fact, you may find that as you write, you can’t seem to think of any words. How can you improve you prose and stop this?
You can improve your prose by practicing techniques that improve your verbal fluency, and decrease your lethologica.
This is a simple way of improving prose that I have literally never seen anyone else talk about. So why don’t I get into details, explaining precisely.
What Makes The Prose Writing Beautiful?
Beautiful prose is a proper selection of words that properly conveys the story through the author’s desired lens.
The whole entire purpose is to tell the story. That’s it. Therefore, a proper prose is one that is point to allow us to enjoy the characters the plot, and the setting without getting in the way. However, beautiful prose is prose that allows us to enjoy these things, while also adding an additional element to the story.
Consider a movie and a documentary.
It is possible to watch a story through a documentary format, as we see through shows like the ‘Office’. However, when you use high definition camera lenses, with carefully selected color composition, you can end up with movies that look “beautiful”, such as the Todd Philip’s Joker.
This beautiful prose is constructed by a specific sorting of words which adds to the story. So rather than saying “black wooden chair”, you could say “oak chair”.
However, it’s often hard for authors to think of the best word to use in the situation due to Lethologica.
What is Lethologica? How does it hinder Prose?
Lethologica is the inability to remember a specific word, or name, even if you may know what you want to say.
There are three main things to know about lethologica. It is universal, it occurs more frequently with age, and finally, you often can remember a piece of the information, just not all of it. You can read more about that here.
Worse is that there is a correlation observed between lethologica and anxiety/depression. Most authors have some level of depression and anxiety, which can hinder your productivity if you do not attempt some of these fixes.
However the best way to defeat lethologica is by increasing your verbal fluency.
What is Verbal Fluency?
Verbal fluency is how easily someone can produce words, and how widely, and deeply they can use their vocabulary tool box.
The relevance of verbal fluency to lethologica is high. In fact, some verbal fluency exercises are used to help alleviate aphasia. This is the situation where someone’s literal brain is damaged, leading to them being unable to remember words. You can read more on that here.
Imagine what it can do for your mind?
A study was conducted to test the relationship between anxiety and verbal fluency. They found that high anxiety people may receive the same results of recollection as low anxiety people, but they must use their minds harder. In some studies, high anxiety is seen associated with low verbal fluency scores.
How To Improve Your Verbal Fluency?
Verbal fluency can be improved through a series of verbal fluency exercises, tests, and by decreasing your anxiety levels.
How Do You Become A Good Prose Writer?
1. Do the Recall Technique to Improve Prose
The first technique that could improve your prose is to try and recall as many words of a specific category that you choose.
This is the structure of all the verbal fluency exercises.
In essence, you just select a category, whether it be nouns, letters, or types of nouns. Then, you will try and recall as many of the ones you can, while doting down what you recall. Do this for 1 minute, and look at how many you’ve achieved. Usually, you should be able to recall at least 50 words.
So, what are the tips to doing this properly?
The first tip I have to give is you need to look for information. What you are looking for is the moment you experience a “blockage”. This is when you find time is running out and no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to think of any more words.
If you find a category that makes you feel like that, do this exercise every day on the same category for about a week. This is until you can make it to about 50 of the words.
2. Do the A Test
The second technique you could try is the A test.
This test is simple enough. You need to get a recording device, a writing device, and a timer. For 1 minute, try to list as many words starting with A as you can.
The principles here are the same. You are hoping to find that point where your mind gets block. After that point, you listen to the recording again. Write down all the words you managed to recall, and count them.
That is you blackout number.
Tomorrow, you try the exercises again, and this time make sure that you get at least 3 more above this number.
A tip I’d add is try to not use the same words. But don’t be silly either. Sometimes it is inevitable.
3. Do the S Test
The third test would be to exercise using the S test.
The S test is pretty similar to the A test. Here you also need to a recording device, a writing device, and a timer.
Again, you will set the timer to 1 minute. Then, you will activate it, and list out as many words starting with S as you possibly can.
However, there is something interesting about words that start with s- they have the words that start with Sh.
This is a more advance for of verbal fluency words. Words that start with sl, sh, or some form of double letters. Sometimes even triple letters. This is for when you get really good.
For now though, just focus on the words that start with S.
4. Do the Animal Test
The fourth technique that you want to do is the animal test, which should help assist you in setting up scenes.
The first 3 exercises assist you in the basics of recalling information. When you have mastered those ones, you will find your prose will increase in the narrative faction, and you have a wider pool of words to pull from.
Now we are getting more specific.
These next sets of words will assist you in using words that can help set up a scene. They are implemented as the previous scenes were.
Again, you need a recorder, a writing device, and a timer. You need to activate your timer, and record yourself saying as many animals as you can think of. A trick that i use is thinking of flying animals, land animals, and sea animals. When I run out of options in each, I just turn to the other one.
Do the test, and when you are done. Reach your blackout number. Then the following day, attempt the test again. Do it over, and over until you no longer feel the blackout number.
When you are done, you will be surprised how easy writing scenes becomes.
5. Do the Noun talking test For Your Prose
The fifth test you could do is to record yourself speaking about as many nouns as you can and trying to see what each reminds you off.
This one is more to deal with the anxiety levels you have.
The main reason most of us have anxiety is due to our childhood. Some unfortunate experience made us not like speaking to people, and prefer living alone. Not always of course, but sometimes this is the case.
A simple fix is simple recognizing that event, which is what the noun test allows you to do.
Go online, and get a random noun generating website. When you get there, activate your recording device. Spend 2 minutes talking about each noun. Look into the past and try to see what each word reminds you of in your childhood.
When that is done, you should have some information. you need to code this information. Go through the recording, and write the recurring themes. Use your own words first, trying to see which words you use often. Then, what do those words have in common? Helplessness? Betrayal? Anger? Hurt? Whatever it is, try to look at it.
Then, try to remember it’s source. You will be shocked by what you find.
6. Do the conscious thoughts technique for your prose
The sixth test it to try and consciously change the way that you think about yourself.
Now that you know your past, you could make a change. Specifically, you know what the thing that bothers you is. You know what you think of yourself.
So change that.
When you see your mind stumbling into previous thought patterns, stop yourself. You can do this by physically changing the way you behave, which will change the way you feel, and that will finally change the way that you are thinking.
If you think dogs will eat you (thought), you will be scared of dogs (feelings) and so you will run away from the dogs (actions). However, if you are to get a friend of yours who is good with dogs to help you pet one (action), you will start to feel comfortable around the dogs (feeling), and you will not think that it will bite you anymore (thought).
Do this with your childhood horror experience.
What is it that you think will happen that makes you anxious? Do you think you will fail, and be rejected again? Or that you will fail to make it and will disappoint yourself again?
Then how does that make you feel? Anxious. That’s the middle of all these parts anxious feelings. We are trying to discover what the thought, and the action are. Speaking of which.
What actions do you take? Do you place your books away where you can’t see them? Do you avoid having time alone by drowning yourself in indulgences? Social media, food, games, movies, socializing etc?
Then simply change that action. Change your thought. All of this will change your anxiety levels, and allow you to write better.
7. Write down the things you say to yourself when you are feeling bad
The seventh test that you could do is write down all the bad things that you say to yourself that make you feel bad.
Sometimes, the actions are words.
How do you speak to yourself? Write down all the worst things that you say to yourself. For fun, imagine what the most hurtful thing you could hear is. Then, write these down.
8. Write down an opposite of those things that are positive
The eight test that you can do is writing down the opposite of those things that you imagined.
Now that you have a list of the worst thing that could be said to you, write down the opposite list. Write down the literal opposite of each word. If there are 20 things that you managed to write down, you should have 20 other things, reflecting the first things.
9. Think back on your day
The ninth step is to keep track of all the implementation of the things you learned here.
Set a part a time for you to look back at your day, and see just how much things you managed to get done which you intended to do.
There are 8 points on this article, and each can be done within one day. The first four take only 1 hour, which can be done in the morning. The next 2 can be done in under an hour. Also, they can be done one off, without needing to be done daily or weekly. Finally, the last 2 could be done in under an hour. Also, they are one of things.
You can take a moment at the end of each day, and look back to see how well you emplented each. If you did not do well, then plan for the following day how to implement each of these.
When you have mastered these 9 ways to improve your prose, you’ll be that much closer to mastering mastery.