Does anyone find that, when reading, they see a new word and instead of thinking - “oh! A new word! What’s the definition?”
You think - “…you totally used a thesaurus for that word…”
Then the author will use that word at LEAST 3 times throughout the book and it pings in your head everytime.
+++
I know I’m being way critical. Considering I don’t write nor am I published. And I should be grateful I learned a new word today!
But I’ve gone 33yrs without seeing “Maudlin” and now I’ve seen this used 3 times to describe the same character.
Other words occurr of course but “Maudlin” is what made me roll my eyes this morning.
And “Disgorged”
The definition is clear from the word itself but c’mon… you don’t need to use it twice in the same chapter to describe both a Carriage uploading passengers and a microwave opening up for food.
It just feels fake 😅
Would it feel more authentic if they went back to the thesaurus every time they needed that adjective? Sure, they might start with sentimental, but eventually they are going to use lachrymose and then there is going to be a fight.
What you are experiencing is the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or Frequency Illusion, a rather interesting cognitive quirk which now that you are aware of, you might see people mentioning a lot.