Creative Writing Tips: Diction

I thought I would touch on diction in terms of writing. What exactly is diction? To put it simply, it is the level of speech one uses in their writing. There are different levels of diction from refined legalize down to Vulgate language. Obviously there is no wrong diction, only appropriate diction. That is to say depending on how sophisticated or learned a character is will determine their level of diction. For example, there is a difference between a character saying "I did not do it" rather than "I didn't do it" or worse "I din't do it." Contractions can be used to emphasize a person's lack of knowledge or simply social etiquette. This is not to say that only stupid characters use contractions, but there is a notable difference between a character who uses and another who does not use contractions.