We all know about the famous quote of Wilson,
"The knowledge of words is the gateway to scholarship."
Words are the instruments by which we fashion and embody our ideas. It is in words that the writer, as well as the speaker, clothes his thoughts. It is by means of words that he depicts his feelings. It is therefore essential to his success that he should try to enlarge his vocabulary so that he may have a fairly good stock of words at his disposal.
Now what are the means of acquiring good vocabulary?
The only means of acquiring good vocabulary is constant and careful reading. If you want to improve your vocabulary, you must read good books, standard authors, writers of acknowledged standing and repute, and read with concentration and care, understanding and appreciating what you read.
No one is born with ready knowledge of words in a language nor is there any royal road to it. Read wisely and with care. That is the only way. This sort of study would give you the power to discriminate and use words with due measure of precision and force. The more trouble you take, the greater your reward.
How to choose the right word?
"The difficulty of Literature is not to write, but to write what you want."
What does this quote mean? It means that a large part of the difficulty lies inchoosing a right word. Often we have more that one words before us, out of which we must choose the one word we want.
The effectiveness of all writing depends upon the use of right word in each place.
For Example:
I am giving an example that we have two words, deny and refuse.
Deny means to to say that something is not true. It also means to say no to a request.
As we say that, "I deny that statement is true."
Refuse means to to reject or express unwillingness to follow a suggested course of action.
For example: He refuses all gifts. Or He refused to help him.
In the same way the words, elder and older are synonyms but they are used in different senses.
So the main thing is to choose a right word in each place.
We all know that English is a language capable of expressing the finest shades of thought and feeling and you are often in a difficulty to select just the right word to express your ideas.
Only careful reading and practice in writing will enable you to distinguish the nice shades of meaning and pick out just the right word your context demands.
This is helpful dear especially in writing narrative or creative writings, poems and stories.