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Thoughts on Writing | ||
What is good writing?
Compare
the following definitions of good writing:
An
effective book, letter, play, poem,
short story, or novel is one in which the reader feels what the author wants him or her
to feel, thinks what the author wants
him or her to think, and does what
the author wants him or her to do.
Good
writing displays a mastery of diction, a variety
of sentence structures, and a clarity of purpose.
Although
learners are often taught according to the second definition, most writing is
judged by the first definition. Writers
must always consider carefully who will be judging the finished work.
Why talk about writing?
All
of us are going to read and write. If
we are influenced by what we read, and we persuade others by writing, then a community,
a college, a country, should invest in competent readers and writers.
Writing
was once no ordinary skill. In ancient times, most people in most areas of the
world were illiterate. Rulers made
no investment in public education. Those
few private individuals who got an education mastered rhetoric, the skill of persuading
hearers by logic, emotion and ethics. The
best educated writers were generally an elite group of landowners or the slaves
who taught the elite and managed their businesses.
The rest depended upon scribes. Scribes, specialists trained in reading
and writing, held an essential role of society from at least 3000 BC to about
1450 AD. After 1450, when the newly invented printing press made a flood of pamphlets,
tracts broadsides and books available, many ordinary people in
Writing
is now the most ordinary of skills, and most governments believe (at least nominally)
in basic public education as a foundation for economic prosperity. At the same
time, the public forums available have expanded beyond print, and the skills required
to negotiate them have changed. The
first half of the 20th century saw the advent of film, radio and TV.
Now the three major media of information and persuasion are visual stories,
the spoken word, and reading. While
many of us still read, consuming newspapers, magazines, books and possibly internet
blogs, most of us also get our news and beliefs from
the radio, the TV, and the internet. Contemporary citizens in all parts of the
world need mastery of multiple media: the
techniques of speaking, the vocabulary and techniques of formal writing, and the
vocabulary and techniques of visual representation in film.
This
class focuses on the skill of writing. As long as reading and writing are a part
of our lives, understanding the techniques of reading and writing will help us
to be intelligently critical and informed members of our community.
How do we talk about writing?
Writing
is words, in sentences, in paragraphs, in order. And that's all. To talk about words, sentences, paragraphs
and order, writers learn about style (diction
and grammar) and structure (order and
logic). They become experts analyzing
and describing good and bad style and structure.
How do writers improve?
First
and foremost, pay attention to powerful words and arguments. What moves you? Second, consider the audience outside yourself.
What might persuade others? With the above-mentioned definitions of
good writing in mind, here are four additional recommendations:
1.
Expand your vocabulary. Get a dictionary, and get in the habit of looking up unfamiliar
words. 2.
Add variety to your writing. Imitate sentence styles that are new to you. 3. Eliminate common
grammatical mistakes. Use the comma, semicolon and
colon correctly. 4. Think clearly
before you write. Know your purpose and audience. Let your purpose determine your
structure. |