EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS : WRITING SKILLS |
How
does one avoid being a bad writer? Presumably, most people visiting or
subscribing to this site needn’t concern themselves with being accused
of high crimes against the English language, but allow me to make a
distinction between poor writing and bad writing.
Poor writing is lazy, careless writing, an attempt to communicate
without adequate preparation or care. It is writing replete with passive
construction, limp verbs, leaden clichés, mixed metaphors, dangling
participles and misplaced modifiers, and other enemies of clear prose.
Without vigilance, we are all vulnerable — we can easily produce any
one of these errors, and perhaps more than one, in a single article or
essay or short story. But poor writing is a multiplicity of such
mistakes, and it is a sin of omission rather than one of commission: We
might commit all these transgressions because we don’t know or recognize
them.
Bad writing is more of a challenge, because it is a sin of
commission: You have to make an effort to write badly — though it is
easier to achieve than you might think, because many very accomplished,
intelligent people do so. How does one manage to join such exalted
company?
Bad writing is that which demonstrates a surfeit of intention.
(Translation: Bad writing happens when you try too hard.) Forty years
ago, S. Leonard Rubenstein, now a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania
State University, wrote “If a man intends to impress someone, his work
will not be clear, because he does not intend clarity: he intends to
impress.”
And that is when writing often goes bad: Writers let their desire to
demonstrate erudition, artistry, or cleverness — acceptable in small
doses — overwhelm their effort to communicate. We see it in academic and
technical writing, laden with polysyllabic prose and complicated and
extensive sentence construction that obfuscates rather than opens our
eyes. We see it in lay nonfiction, when arguments fight themselves,
explanations leave us more confused than before, and overwrought
overwriting leaves us overwhelmed. We see it in fiction, when novelists
and short story writers belabor their narrative with contrived
constructions and purple prose.
Here are some tips on avoiding the pitfalls of bad writing:
1. Be Fresh
The purpose of metaphor and simile is to evoke recognition by comparison or allusion. Write these analogies to aid your readers with your clarity of vision, not to serve your ego, and avoid clichés.
2. Be Clear
When drafting expository fiction or nonfiction, record your voice as you spontaneously describe a scene or explain a procedure, transcribe your comments, and base your writing on the transcription, revising only to select more vivid verbs and more precise nouns and to seek moderation in adverbs and adjectives.
3. Be Active
Use the passive voice judiciously.
4. Be Concise
Write tight.
5. Be Thorough
Accept that writing is the easy part; it’s the revision that makes or breaks your project — and requires most of your effort. Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. |
Welcome to all members of this blog...and thanks to the new members who have joined recently. I find this is amazing! Expect more new posts on communication skills in future. Don't forget to download the free Basic English Grammar ebook by clicking on the link at the end of this section. I wish you all great success in the years to come!
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