Unit 1

What is Courage?

Writing Traits - Word Choice

One of the important traits of good writing is Word Choice.


Words you choose make your story more interesting or alive to the reader.
Using juicy, descriptive words can help paint a picture in the reader's mind!

Lots of good word choices are made in As Good as Gold. For example, we read that Silken "...was rammed by another scull in a training accident". The word rammed creates a much different image in our minds than if the author had written that Silken was bumped by another scull or hit by another scull, doesn’t it? The word rammed makes it clear that the blow was really bad. No wonder she was injured!

Examples of Effective Word Choice


  • “The crowd hushed”.
    (Much better than "The crowd became quiet.")

  • “All the rowers exploded from the starting gate”.
    (Much better than "moved" or "rowed")

  • “...so tired she didn’t think she could make it to the end”.
    (Much better than saying she was "really tired")

When you make really good word choices, your writing is much more interesting to read. It also helps you say what you really mean. 
Here is something to think about.
Did you notice that the good, juicy word choices were all words that show an action (Verbs)? 
Using strong action words can greatly improve your writing and paint a clear picture in the readers mind! 

Go to the next page to find assignments for this lesson.