Diction is choice of words, which is the style of the writer – it is the distinctive tone of the writer. Tone is the attitude of the writer.
It can be serious/humorous or light, positive or negative, formal or informal.
Tone/tenor of a writer depicts mood, attitude and even dialect which are reflected in diction. So, diction is the choice of words a writer uses which represent his/her peculiar style.
When you talk of diction, you talk of the correct use of language, the effective use of language and the clearness or lucidity of language. Target audience/readers and the purpose of writing influence diction.
For example, children’s books should be written in simple language with easy to understand words: “When Chika saw the temerity with which Obi accosted the school bully, he was glad.”
Books written for children will speak in simple language like, “Chika was happy when he saw Obi walking boldly to confront the school bully.”
So context and target audience/readers influence diction. Diction is using language well: articulating clearly and concisely being mindful of purpose and readers/audience.
There are four main types of Diction: elevated, neutral, informal and poetic (verse). The different types of diction should not be mixed.
Elevated diction employs grammar in its perfect use…lofty. It is the language of high literature. This is mostly found in the piece of writing called verse.
See works like the works of Shakespeare, Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, and so many other such works. Its target audience or readers are the upper class: royals, nobles and the literati.
Formal diction is usually written in polysyllabic words which syntax (arrangement of words) is often sophisticated using choice of words that are elegant. Also, it uses no contractions like it’s, can’t, won’t.
Here, choice of words is formal: for example: it is, cannot, will not, etc. Formal diction doesn’t employ colloquialism, slang or idioms.
Chinua Achebe’s works are written in formal diction and the works of Wole Soyinka, plus other great literary works, especially published for educational uses.
Informal diction is the use of slang and colloquialism, etc. in writing. Informal diction is not lofty, I will call it street language, but sometimes, it degenerates to gutter language if care is not taken. Toni Kan employed mostly informal diction in his novel, ‘The Carnivorous City.’
Informal diction is relaxed, conversational and targets (in speech, a familiar audience like family and friends, in writing, it targets ordinary people and not nobles, aristocrats or people in authority).
Words are the building blocks of narratives and diction is the writer’s choices of the blocks he/she decides to use in the construction of his/her narrative or story.
In the elements of fiction, diction has a pride of place. For me, in the elements of literature, diction plays a major role.
Diction can be likened to looks or physical beauty which is the first thing that attracts a potential lover. Looks appeal to the eyes, attract an individual, but character would eventually determine if that interest would be sustained or not.
Content and plot are like character. When a reader picks a book, he/she doesn’t know the content or the plot from the onset. When the reader flips through the opening pages, it is the manner in which the writer tells the story that would hold his/her interest.
Once the reader’s interest is engaged and the content is great and the plot is engaging, intriguing, etc, the writer has delivered! So, a writer can engage his/her audience through the choice of words used.
Chimamanda Adiche has great intros in her two novels: ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and ‘Purple Hibiscus.’ In Purple Hibiscus, she opens with breaking gods and figurines. Half of a Yellow Sun opens with Master…in the language of the half literate boy and his not so educated relation going to get a job.What drive a story are nouns and verbs.
Basically translated, it means that stories are made up of actions (verbs) human beings (since nouns include places and things) perform. So, narratives whether of prose or verse: drama, poetry, or fiction, are made up of actions performed by nouns or verbs driven by nouns.
Narratives with lots of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and other non action parts of speech tend to be passive and thus slow, dragging.
Writers avoid writing like this: “Joel was taken away by the police this morning because the police were called by his neighbours after the previous night’s rowdy party at his house.”
Good writers will write: “In the morning, the police came and took away Joel. Everybody knew that his neighbours called them because of the rowdy party at his house the previous night.”
You can rewrite using active words – verbs (and nouns). Poetic diction is of course diction found in poetry. Abstract diction is the use of abstract words like fantastic, beauty, patience, pleasant, bleak, nice, etc., as against words like black, bitter, pain (you can see black, you can taste bitter and you can feel pain – so they are not abstract)
The PURPOSE OF DICTION is to enhance or facilitate communication. Poor diction is poor style which impedes effective communication and renders a piece of writing sluggish. The right words must be used to convey thoughts. Conveying thoughts with right words will help engage a reader or audience quickly.
Although some scholars argue that figurative words and diction are not the same, I agree that diction cannot be used interchangeably with figurative words, but concrete or figurative words are part of diction which is choice of words.
A writer can make his writing explicit and effective by choosing figurative words like, ‘She has the svelte figure of a cheetah and glides like one.’ This choice of words is effective in firing up a reader’s imagination and makes meaning clear, yet it is metaphoric.
Note that diction is not the entire sentence, but words that seem to jump out at the reader or listener. They are words stronger than others in a piece of writing.
In Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo’s Roses and Bullets, you see words like “warbling (to a distraught lover);” “(even thinking of that room) spawned nightmares;” “(she decided) to slog around,” etc.
These words: ‘warbling,’ ‘spawned nightmares,’ ‘slog around’ and many other such words seem to jump at you when reading Ezeigbo’s novel.
How do I acquire good diction? Read widely, write frequently, read good books and in speech, open wide your mouth and speak measured words (slowly) and distinctly.
