You Can Write Well
Posted on April 25, 2008
Filed Under Writing |
Having been sold on the dream of the paperless office many breathed a sigh of relief that they would no longer be required to write. What they hadn’t bargained for was the need for written content in emails and web sites. Even if we ignore the internet there are still many times when a written communication is more appropriate than any other format. Being willing and able to write is, in my view, essential.
Pianists practice at the piano. Tennis players practice at the net. Athletes practice at the track. They all recognise that skills need to be developed and honed if they are to be maintained.
Writing is simply the process of capturing your thoughts on paper or computer screen. Instead of letting your thoughts escape into the ether, writing them down is the process of lassoing them and keeping them for future use. What is more difficult is capturing the thoughts worthy of recording from the countless notions that pass through our overstimulated minds on a moment by moment basis. I guess this could be described as sorting the wheat from the chaff.
What is good writing? All answers to this would be subjective and therefore varied. It is probably easier to say what is bad writing. For me, any writing that can be read easily, that is unambiguous and that imparts something interesting or essential, is good.
It is very tempting for a writer to throw himself into a new project without planning or researching his theme. Indeed this is a method followed by a number of successful writers but it is not one that is necessarily to be recommended as it leads to numerous rewrites and wasted effort. At the other end of the spectrum are the writers who spend far too long researching and planning to the extent that it becomes a form of procrastination.
It is because all writers have their own distinctive style that as a species we are blessed with such a rich literary background. New writers are sometimes tempted to emulate the style of a successful writer and whilst I can understand this, I would encourage everyone to have confidence in their own uniqueness.
I have personal preferences about what I read. I am sure you do too. I delight in being made to stop and think. I don’t want to puzzle over the meaning of a too long sentence or a 4 syllable word. I want to read words that challenge my preconceived ideas. I want to be entertained. I want to merge with the words and experience them.
It saddens me when I come across web content in particular which is there for the sake of being there. It provides nothing. No interest, no entertainment and certainly no value. It leaves me feeling cheated and breaks trust with the author.
Once the planning and writing has taken place, the writer’s job is still not complete. Clear and concise written pieces are not the result of the author simply writing. There is at least one other stage in the process. Outstanding pieces of written work are the result of tough, unsentimental editing.
Editing is a different animal from proof reading. The latter is an exercise to spot errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax and the plain old typo. Editing is the process by which a raggle-taggle collection of words is pummelled and pounded until it becomes clear prose that is a joy to read.
You would expect a writer to be enthusiastic about the process of writing. However, I am more than enthusiastic, I am passionate about the written word and the good it can do. Don’t under estimate the power of something as simple as a written thank you note, as an example, for it will be treasured far more than a telephone call. Will you pick up your pen and begin to write? I so hope you do.
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