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A good vocabulary is essential when reporting as a citizen journalist in order to effectively communicate with your audience. After all, if you can't draw then in early on, what incentive do they have to peruse the rest of your piece?

Using varied and descriptive words whenever possible allows the writer to pull the reader into the story, transporting the reader and enabling them to see what the author sees. Common, everyday words used over and over again can make any piece boring and mundane; you don't want your work to read like an auto manual or a weather report. Which would you rather do: observe intently as a colorful enamel-like substance morphed into its final, solidified state; or would you rather sit and watch paint dry?

An expanded vocabulary increases descriptiveness and enables the citizen journalist to portray a clearer image by adding more details to the scene, drawing a picture with words. Hence, the reader is better able to understand the story being reported on and therefore can form more intelligent observations and opinions. As well, a writer with a strong vocabulary is able to be more concise in describing information pertinent to the story. This can be vital when reporting on any subject that is of importance to many people; an informed public makes informed decisions.

While expanding one's vocabulary as a citizen journalist is both admirable and encouraged, the writer must be aware of his audience when choosing his words. If you use technical terms or descriptors that are somewhat specific or unique to a situation or setting, you must clarify what they mean or the reader will become confused and disinterested, thus becoming more likely to dismiss or ignore your report. Most of us would not continue to read something if we failed to understand what we were looking at or we weren't gleaning any knowledge from it. Nuclear physics may be infinitely fascinating but I'm not going to pick up a 5oo page book filled with formulae and hope to learn about the fun side of it that way. Consider your target audience.

Refrain from being overly loquacious or ostentatious in your verbiage lest you desire to portray yourself as an overly pompous, elitist individual who craves the need to feel superior or disdainful of others by their utilization of overly elegant or decidedly cumbersome wordage. Who likes a show off!

Basically, there's one simple rule when it comes to vocabulary usage, whether you be reporting or just telling a story. Remember, don't tell. Show!

Learn more about this author, John Hummel.
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