Choose Your Words Carefully

When it comes to writing, any word can either make a piece greater or pull it down the ranks. One has to be careful when writing, because too many fancy and "intelligent" words can make him sound like a snob. No one wants to read a book written by a snob who shows off his use of language, making it seem as though he believes to be smarter than his readers.

For example, look at the following sentence:
The man ran through the entire house in which he lives from the man running after him.

Now, that sentence doesn't really describe anything. The man ran through the house, but who was running after him? Just another man? Why? Is this supposed to be a chase?

Look at the sentence again. This time, it has been revised and shown below:
The male scampered through the residence from the unwanted male intruder pursuing him.

This version of the sentence is far too eloquent, using larger words and making it seem like the writer believes he's smarter than anyone who reads it. Plus, with such a multitude of words, it looks kind of like a train wreck. It could be much cleaner than this.

Take a look at the sentence one last time:
The man scrambled through the house from the intruder.

Much better. This sentence brings a much better balance of eloquence and simplicity, and it's more precise than both of the other sentences. It can be assumed that the intruder is chasing the man, and the sentence itself implies that the writer didn't tear apart a thesaurus in order to write it.

Writing is an art, and too much of something can really hurt it. Watch your words, and make sure that there isn't an overload of "intelligent" words. You know what they say: too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.