Variety Is the Spice of Life, and I Need Some Tums

Meta
Title:	Variety Is the Spice of Life, and I Need Some Tums
Creator:	Arduinna
Date(s):	December 2004
Medium:	online
Fandom:	multi
Topic:	fiction writing, fanon
External Links:	online here, Archived version
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Variety Is the Spice of Life, and I Need Some Tums is an essay by Arduinna.

It is part of a set of essays (Essays: Rants and Rambles) about fiction writing:

• Variety Is the Spice of Life, and I Need Some Tums
• Purple Fanfic's (total lack of) Majesty
• Epithets: Fandom's Designated Hitters
• Said Is Not a Four-Letter Word

Sections

• Diversity Can Be a Good Thing
• I Don't Think That Word Means What You Think It Means
• Right Words, Wrong Forms
• Elegant Pitfalls

Excerpts

In The Sentinel, Blair once used the word "obfuscate" to explain how he'd distracted people away from the question they'd asked him, so he could avoid giving an honest answer. I don't think he ever used it again, and no one else used the word regularly in reference to him. But it got picked up as fanon, and has been used for years in the fanfic -- almost always incorrectly. Most Sentinel authors use it as a direct synonym for "lie"; what it really means is "to make obscure" or "confuse" -- basically, to distract people from the issue at hand, exactly as Blair used it. If the authors had used the plain, simple "lie", rather than reaching for an elegant variant, the sentences would be fine; as it is, they're awkward and incorrect.

The same thing can happen in almost any fandom. In Pros, some authors assume that "sunshine" is a specific term of endearment between Bodie and Doyle, when in fact it's a common term in British English, and often has an edge to it (rather than dripping with affection). LotR is full of terms that many authors don't quite understand, but think sound atmospheric, and which thus get used incorrectly.

In every case, taking a moment to look up the words that you're not sure about can make all the difference.

A thesaurus is a wonderful thing -- but a dictionary is better. All of these mistakes could have been avoided if the author had looked up the words she found in her thesaurus. There are almost no synonyms in English that are precise matches for each other; the beauty of the language is that each holds a slightly different shade of meaning. Using them correctly can add depth to a story. Using them incorrectly can confuse the reader, or, worse, send them off into fits of laughter at the ridiculousness of what you inadvertantly wrote.