In addition to making sure the language is a good fit for your ms and audience, I think we need to take care not to overuse words as we write. I can not tell you how many times I have heard the word “literally” used incorrectly in the past few months, not only by teens but by well-known reporters who should know better! Just because a word is suddenly being tossed around is no reason to toss it into your own writing. In fact, it’s a good reason to steer clear of that sort of misuse.

Finally, you brought up the Gulf Oil Disaster. One way to use language, poetry in particular, for a good cause is to contribute poems to http://poetsforlivingwaters.com. Check them out.

Since you’ve talked about using words from other languages, I’m curious. When did the French word, “frisson,” become a gotta-have-it word in novels? It seems to crop up in so many works of fiction, no matter what the setting.

At first I concluded it must be the authors’ attempt to, I don’t know, add sophistication to their writing. I looked it up, of course. Then I started to chuckle as this word cropped up again and again. Now it sounds tired to me, like a cliche.

Do you have a list of words you flag?

I live by a principle I read in the beginning of my writing career, even though I don’t remember who said it: “Never use a five-dollar word when a nickel word will do.”

So I wonder if that truth still holds. How do you as an agent first respond when you read a well-written manuscript, particularly nonfiction, that showcases this plain-English style?

This conversation makes me remember my newlywed days when military hubby used jargon and “alphabet soup” acronyms that were foreign words to me. When we write in the language of our target group, any tips for using terms in such a way that we don’t totally lose readers who might NOT be in that market segment?