A question is often heard to be asked by the people that what the conception of good writing is. Before anyone can understand what the concept behind good writing is, it is first important to understand that what basically writing is.
Writing is done as a response or reaction to someone or something. Although writing is seen as an isolated act, just a pen, paper, and a writer, it is a social act in which a writer is responding to the people around the world. Writing takes a place in a prescribed context. A writer is always writing to the readers for some specific purpose.
It is really important for the writer to understand and have the sense of reader’s expectations and the specific purpose behind what is being written. Once the writer understands the context of writing, the next step is to determine the tone of language, genre, and vocabulary level, insertion of evidence and supporting data, and even punctuation.
It is highly important to note that effective communication requires the ideas and words to be put in a way that they make sense to the reader. According to Murray, good writing expresses a comprehensible sense of writer’s intentions. It is a fact that ideas do not arise in a human brain in a linear form. They often come up in a scattered form, as a hunch for something being true, or in some other sense that makes us believe that an idea is right and further details on it should be worked out. It is then through writing that the writer develops the sense of the logical relation between those ideas which the readers find interesting later. Hence, it shows that writer does not only need to have ideas, but he also needs to put them into linear form to make those ideas more meaningful and interesting.
Another important characteristic of good writing is that it is recursive in nature. A writer writes something, then deletes it and chooses to rewrite. The writer does this as he reads the piece to ensure it has clarity, coherence, and the meaningful structure. If the writer finds that it lacks any of such elements, he may rewrite to explain his ideas and point of view in a clearer manner. This whole process of writing, then reviewing, editing and rewriting is an important part of good writing and is necessary for shaping the work to match the expectations of the readers.
The readers value a good piece of writing by some renowned author because it reveals the personal choices of the writer, his ways of connecting the ideas, and his ability to change the perception of the readers. Often writing is also taken as evidence of a subject, such as in the academic environment.
The people read a written language and the ideas on that particular page are transformed from one mind to another. In other words, writing allows the ideas to come out of one mind and reach other minds where they are determined and examined in accordance with the standards of that mind, objectively. This is the point where the person develops the sense of good writing and determines whether the piece of writing that he is reading is good or not.
There is a series of objective ideals created to measure the piece of writing on the basis of its vocabulary, style, structure, and ideas, etc. hence, it could be said that although the writing is a personal and subjective thing, it also has an objective element in it in a sense that it is measured against objective standards.
Good writing should anticipate the questions of the readers in advance. According to Wardle, good writing should show an effectual style, an aspect of subjectivity in assessment, and diversity in the style applauded by a variety of regulations. It means that good writers should have natural skepticism regarding their work. It is often said that there is no best experience than walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. Hence, a good writer should think of things from the point of view of readers.
It is perceptible that a good writer will always ask himself four questions before he writes down each sentence that what is he trying to explain, which words are going to be suitable for his social context, the illustration conveyed by him is fresh enough to leave the effect or not and which picture and phrases will make the social context more clearer. Two more questions that should arise in minds of writers that can he writes his social context more concisely and is there anything unnecessary written in the context that should have been avoided. These questions help the writer to formulate the idea and develop the remaining of his/her writing that addresses the main idea in a comprehensive manner.
A good piece of writing includes a fair amount of data. The capability to write understandable and precise text is the most helpful skill that one can possess. Contents of the writing should be grounded in facts, research, and investigation. Ideas and opinions of the writer are also important and must be conveyed, but the content itself should be based on something true, rather than mere opinions, to make it more credible.
According to Haruf, a well-structured piece of writing is not only comprehensible; in fact it is presented in a manner that it looks consistent and aesthetically appealing to the readers. . In other words, a writer should always try to become the part of a solution and make things easier for a reader. Moreover, the writer should not forget to incorporate the opposing point of views in his writing. The writing should include the multiple perspectives to allow the readers to form their own opinion.
Good writing follows the rules of the math. First, it is always logical and structural. It makes the reader feel comfortable while being since the writer has taken all the burdens of shaping the ideas on himself. Secondly, good writing is teachable inherently, similar to the algebra or trigonometry. However, good writing can be simple, but not simplistic.
Good content is the one that deconstructs the complex ideas and conveys things in simpler accessible terms. As it is assumed that it is possible the reader knows nothing, but still writers should not consider their reader as brainless. It implies that the writer can reach out the readers in an effective manner by understanding the expectations of the reader and what is delivered to them.
Finally, it is also important for the writer to understand that what he is writing might have been said before elsewhere. According to Lamott, a good writing is not just keeping a focus on a goal; it leads the reader unavoidably towards that specific goal . In fact, the writer will convey the ideas in a better way. Thus, style is what creates a real difference. It is important to keep in mind that a writer may include longer sentences, but he should make sure that there are no folds in it, no interruptions, and no vagueness. In simple terms, a well-written piece will have a characteristic of clarity in it. The readers get fascinated with the style adopted by the writer that makes his/her writing more understandable and approachable to readers.
Works Cited
Haruf, Kent. To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool Over Your Own Eyes. 20 November 2000. Web. 11 July 2016 <http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/20/arts/20HARU.html?pagewanted=all>.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Press, Inc, 1995. Print.
Murray, Donald M. "All Writing is Autobiography." College Compositiob and Communication 42.1 (1991): 66-74. Print.
Stephen, King. What Writing is. "On Writing a Memoir of the Craft". New York: Pocket Books, 2000. Print.
Wardle, Elizabeth. "Identity, Authority, Learning to Write in New Workplaces." Enculturation 5.2 (2004): 4-7. Print.
