Jane Steen
I read a lot! I love reading history and biography, which brings me into contact with all sorts of little-used words. Fact truly is stranger and far more diverse than fiction. I've had my nose in a book since the age of four, and I was the sort of kid who read Shakespeare and Greek mythology for fun.
Also, I have always loved languages so I did French, German, Latin (I didn't have a choice about that) and a bit of Spanish at school, and that helped a huge amount with understanding the origin of English words and learning how to use them. (French is the only one I still speak with reasonable fluency.) I'm still learning languages, on Duolingo — my current one is Welsh.
When I come across a word I don't know, I look it up, which helps me to remember it. Another thing I do is read old books when I can, which helps with knowing and understanding archaic words.
My wide vocabulary gets me into trouble with readers sometimes, when people who don't know a word, instead of looking it up, assume I've made a mistake and either flag the word in the text or even "correct" me in a review. I just smile — it's all part of an author's life!
Also, I have always loved languages so I did French, German, Latin (I didn't have a choice about that) and a bit of Spanish at school, and that helped a huge amount with understanding the origin of English words and learning how to use them. (French is the only one I still speak with reasonable fluency.) I'm still learning languages, on Duolingo — my current one is Welsh.
When I come across a word I don't know, I look it up, which helps me to remember it. Another thing I do is read old books when I can, which helps with knowing and understanding archaic words.
My wide vocabulary gets me into trouble with readers sometimes, when people who don't know a word, instead of looking it up, assume I've made a mistake and either flag the word in the text or even "correct" me in a review. I just smile — it's all part of an author's life!
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