The Weight of a Word

My latest novel, which is coming out in October 2025, comprises 93,106 words. Is it ridiculous to say that I should review each word used and choose them carefully? Perhaps?

What image forms in your mind when I say the word “politician?” Go ahead, you have my permission to let your mind go wild. Politician appears to be a simple word. It can straightforwardly be explained as a person who is professionally involved in politics or a candidate for an elected office. Yet what did you picture in your mind?

Even though politician is a simple, frank word, is there something we should consider before using ‘politician’ in our manuscript?

Would we choose to have our villain be a political, or would this be a better-suited title for our hero?

In order to answer this question, we need to talk about two other words:

denotation and connotation. Ah, now we are getting somewhere. 

Denotation means the word’s “actual” or “dictionary” meaning.

Connotation means an idea or feeling that a word invokes, in addition to its actual or dictionary meaning. It can be a cultural or emotional association. 

The denotation of a politician means an elected official, but what is the connotation? Is the connotation good or bad—villain or hero? Whether this word is classified as good or bad should depend on whether or not the word has acquired connotations of falsehood, distortion, dishonesty, or misrepresentation.

The connotations of many words can create an obstacle or hazard for the writer if he or she fails to take into account their implications, their emotional overtones. The writer could even alienate a host of readers without even being aware of what he is doing.

Often, the definition of a word has developed distortions or feelings over time, and those connotations must be considered before a writer uses a word that evokes feelings in his or her readers that the writer never intended. 

Example: In my novel, Under the Roof, I had a scene with a sad nun. The protagonist, Aggie Drakos, sees the nun and says, “Shouldn’t this nun display the joy of the Lord? Shouldn’t she be happy and gay?”

I finished the novel, edited it, and handed it to my six beta readers, one of whom was a nun. She was somewhat offended by the comment. Why? Reread it. What do you think was improper with my words?

What she disapproved of was the use of the word, ‘gay.” She explained that nuns are very sensitive to being described as ‘gay.’ Well, I was thinking of the old-fashioned definition, but times have changed, and I deleted the word ‘gay’ from my manuscript.

So beware! Pay attention not just to a word’s definition, but also to the feelings that word may mirror in your readers as you use it, or how the word’s meaning might have evolved with time.

Your turn. Can you think of another word that might have connotations that would affect your use of that word? Have fun in the comments below.