Writing Well

My thoughts about good writing spring from writing non-fiction, where my goal is to communicate, inform, and perhaps persuade the reader. Writing is a craft. Like all crafts, you can improve your writing with practice. I hope the following words help you write better.

To start, know why you write and who you write for. Use this knowledge to sharpen and target your piece.

Most of us write because we have something to say. The first and foremost goal for the writer is to say it clearly. A secondary goal is to maintain the reader’s interest while saying it so that he or she actually finishes reading what you wrote.

How can you, the writer, meet these two challenges successfully?

The first goal, clear writing, requires clear thoughts. If your thoughts are muddled or confused, your words will reflect that. Try to sort out your confusions about your subject before you start writing. Avoid florid language, unclear thoughts and bombastic words. After you have written your first draft, revise and revise to improve clarity and eliminate unnecessary words. Be direct and don’t beat about the bush.

Instead of making big leaps from paragraph to paragraph, divide your thoughts into smaller pieces so the reader can connect the dots.

The second challenge is to maintain continuity and build up your narrative. I try to grab the reader’s attention with my first words and never let go. This means I must maintain a certain pace and logical continuity in the piece and ensure that paragraphs transition smoothly. If I can add humour and surprises so much the better. Some writers like to start small and build up to a climax, but in today’s world of short attention span, that strategy may not be as effective as it was during Charles Dickens’s day.

Once you start writing, it helps to remember that the sentence is the basic unit of written thought. When constructing sentences, I often visualize a metaphor. It goes like this. If your entire essay is like a play on the stage and your readers are the audience, then each sentence is like an actor on that stage - it enters the stage, speaks to the audience, and walks away. Each sentence gets one chance to give something of value to the reader.

That’s right, your writing must have value to the reader. My obligation to the reader, in exchange for the time they spend to read my words, is to make that time worthwhile.

People from all spheres end up writing words we have to read, hear or watch. Books, of course, but business proposals, research publications, annual reports, government rules, editorials, press releases, screenplays and speeches are often written by people who are clueless about clarity, let alone reader interest.

For them, as well as for anyone else who wants to become an effective writer, I quote the immortal words of Strunk and White from the much-loved guide to writing, The Elements of Style. The world of the written word would be infinitely happier if everyone followed his Rule Number 17: omit needless words.

Incidentally, this rule has become even more important over the last decade or two with verbal minimalism popularized by Twitter, Facebook, and SMS messages. If you don’t believe me, just look at the way the man in the White House wields power and reaches his supporters using tweets.

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