One friend likes to be challenged and learn new things when he reads. He says he doesn’t mind looking up words while he’s reading:


“Who cares if you have to pause to look up a word? Keep a dictionary with you when you read. It’s not that hard.”


Another friend has the opposite take; he thinks it’s annoying to see words he doesn’t know, because he has to either stop reading and look it up or continue his flow without fully understanding what he’s reading.


He complains in particular about writers who “use all this esoteric jargon to describe [some]thing, using all these words I don’t know, rather than just describing the thing in everyday language.”


I’m in the middle: I don’t mind new words, so long as there’s a purpose to them. If I’m going to read, and have to look up, a new word or bit of jargon, I want it to contribute to the story or to my understanding of the characters.


My style as a writer is one of simplicity. Probably too much so, in fact. I can’t remember the last time I used an obscure word, and my fiction is almost entirely dialogue and action, without much – sometimes any – description of my characters or setting.


So what I’m wondering is, what's your approach, both as readers and as writers?


As a reader, do you appreciate coming across words you don’t know, or do you find it an annoying interruption of the flow? Do you pause and look up new words, or do you skip them?


As a writer, do you enjoy using obscure words and challenging your reader, or do you prefer to keep it simple?


Let us know now in the comments of this week’s post, "Should You Use Obscure Words & Jargon?"