The Word of The Day is Interrobang

Today's word of the day is interrobang.  The definition of the word is, a printed punctuation mark that combines the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!).

I love looking up odd and obscure words.  I am one of those odd word nerds that likes to read the dictionary as if it is some interesting novel.  I think my favorite words are the ones that people can not just throw into normal conversation.  The words that the SAT tests love to use.  I am also impressed whenever someone has the ability to slip an obscure word into conversation and actually use it properly.  In fact, I used to have a friend who would compete with me for word points.  That does not mean we played "Words With Friends" together but rather every time one of us was able to use an "SAT' word as we called it, and use it properly, we would get points and a congratulatory, "Good SAT word" pat on the back.

As I am writing my novel though I could of course burrow into my head and pull out all the large, pedantic, obscure, ostentatious words that I know.  Yet, who would want to read that.  There are novels you read and either skip over the large words in hopes you will get a clue to their meaning further on or you sit with a dictionary close at hand and actually look up the obscure words.  Those novels take work and in my opinion act as a showcase to the author trying to either teach the reader or showboat and prove their intelligence by making sure the reader knows they are smarter.  Then there are the novels where the words flow like music and the story stays in their minds even after you finish reading.  Depending upon the type of novel you are desiring, reading a novel should be enjoyable and even if it teaches, should not make the reader feeling brain tired.

The novel should also take into consideration the social economics of a character.  It would be hard to visualize someone described as raised in an impoverished area who has had little to no education speak as if they were professors at a university.  Just as it would be difficult to visualize someone who has had advantages handed to them or earned speak as if they did had no formal training in their primary language. 

With all that being said, I opted to leave out some of the juicy big words that delight my heart in favor of words that seem to resemble more how I envision my characters would think and speak.  I also have utilized my thesaurus and dictionary in the process.  I love my red covered dictionary I received from my parents when I graduated 8th grade and have come to use it highly as I write my novel and my yellow covered thesaurus even more.  This has helped me discover synonyms and antonyms of the big, hairy, hard to understand words for the simple, enjoyable words.  I compare it to a big fancy dinner versus a bowl of cereal.  The mean may taste great but it takes a lot of work and hours to prepare whereas a bowl of cereal is simple and comforting and still fills you up all at the same time.

So instead of opting for the big SAT word which may get me points from the reader, I have instead decided to write with my characters in mind and with my readers in mind.  Can you believe it?!