Ryanne asked Roshani Chokshi:

Hey :) You're writing style is so rich! Could you maybe give some tips how advises expand ones vocabulary? I'm writer too and I think I use the same words over and over again.

Roshani Chokshi Thank you! I think prose styles change depending on the book you're trying to write. With The Star-Touched Queen, I wanted something dreamy, myth-candy, the kind of writing that makes you feel like you've eaten a big ol' slice of cake (which has its drawbacks, of course, some people prefer a lighter cut of pie). Alternatively, with A Crown of Wishes, I wanted the writing not to be its own character, but to be in service of the characters' journeys and the plot. So, I wouldn't approach expanding vocabulary in the sense that you're just gathering words and throwing them into your writing. Consider language your vehicle. Do you want a flashy ride? Do you want something that simply gets you from one point to the other? I've found that I'm best able to explore new ways of expressing myself when I read outside my genre. Recently, I reread T.S. Eliot's THE WASTE LAND, and found the most delicate expressions that had me writing them down in a notebook. I also love rereading Michael Ondaatje's collection of poems, THE CINNAMON PEELER. Other books seem almost accidentally beautiful, like THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES by Siddharta Mukherjee (a social biography on cancer, and an example of fantastic medical nonfiction). In each of those works, the language is doing something different. It's drawing attention in ways both subtle and profound, and I think by reading as much as you can, that's how you expand your style of expression. It's not the vocabulary that creates style. It's your imagination :) Best of luck!

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