How to be a Better Writer
(Creative Commons Licence, from Wikimedia Commons)
I'm not a good writer, but I am better than I was a few years ago. There are many other people to take advice from, here is mine.
Write Regularly
Practice won't make you perfect, but it will make you less awful. Writing is an acquired skill and unless you are exceptionally talented, you can't translate thoughts to words without a great deal of trial and error. My advice is to write something at least once a day. Fiction or fact, what matters is that what you write isn't a jumble of words but something that is as readable as possible. You don't need to agonize for hours or write short stories or complete articles, but you do need to make an effort. It may seem implausible, but it is possible to write, read and rewrite a short article in less than 30 minutes.
Say more with Less.
Debating taught me a great deal, but it also gave me a few bad habits. One of those was to pad out whatever I said with unnecessary information because, hey, what's the harm? In debates putting everything you can think of into a speech is better than wasting what time you have. In writing, at least when it comes to the non-fiction I write, every superfluous word obscures what you're saying and drives away readers. Cut every unnecessary sentences, ideas and paragraphs. Don't repeat yourself unless you do it for effect. Avoid complexity, love simplicity. Your words are your children but if you want to write, you have to be willing to kill your kids.
Experiment
For the longest time I thought that writing non-fiction well meant writing like a robot. When I wrote my first university philosophy essay, it was a list of numbered bullet points and sub-points. After all, good non-fiction should make it's argumentation as clear as possible. Anything other than bullet points, any attempt at style necessarily prejudices the reader and obscures the argumentation. Three years later and I'm not sure that I was wrong, but I am sure that if I wrote like that, the only people reading my writing would be those paid to do so. Experimenting with style can teach you a great deal. It can show you the flaws in your own default way of writing, introduce you to different ways sentences and ideas can flow or simply make for a nice change of pace. It pays to try writing differently every once in a while. If you're not sure how, look up a few writers you like and try to emulate them.
Your readers are children, not idiots.
Most people won't be experts in what you write. and those who are stand to learn the least from what you have to say. That's one reason to make your writing accessible. Another is the illusion of transparency which means that what you are almost always far more difficult to understand than you think. Avoid technical language where possible. If you must use it, consider inserting a hyperlink or short explanation. Make arguments flow. Establish the connections between premises. Don't introduce new ideas without making clear why they matter. Generally speaking, don't expect your reader to do the work for you. Treat them like an inquisitive child, intelligent but always in need of a guiding hand. But, don't treat them like an idiot. You don't need to laboriously explain obvious connections between arguments or worse yet say what you're going to talk about, talk and then say what you said. Whether in a debating speech or in an article, most people don't need that degree of hand holding. At best it's a waste of time. At worst, it makes your writing a pain to read.
Most people won't be experts in what you write. and those who are stand to learn the least from what you have to say. That's one reason to make your writing accessible. Another is the illusion of transparency which means that what you are almost always far more difficult to understand than you think. Avoid technical language where possible. If you must use it, consider inserting a hyperlink or short explanation. Make arguments flow. Establish the connections between premises. Don't introduce new ideas without making clear why they matter. Generally speaking, don't expect your reader to do the work for you. Treat them like an inquisitive child, intelligent but always in need of a guiding hand. But, don't treat them like an idiot. You don't need to laboriously explain obvious connections between arguments or worse yet say what you're going to talk about, talk and then say what you said. Whether in a debating speech or in an article, most people don't need that degree of hand holding. At best it's a waste of time. At worst, it makes your writing a pain to read.
Get Feedback
The illusion of transparency is your worst enemy. Don't fall prey to it. Your readers may be smart, they may even be experts on your topic, but one thing they can never be is you. When you write you know where you're going, what you intend each sentence to mean. They don't, and no matter how much you try to distance yourself, you'll never be able to experience your writing the same way someone reading it for the first time will. That's why feedback is so useful. Get an editor if you can. If you can't, ask a friend. Feedback may hurt, it may be hard to swallow but don't brush it off. It's the only way to get a glimpse at what your writing really reads like.
Your writing has Consequences
This is the most important piece of advice I have. Being a good writer doesn't just mean being good in the sense of being skilled, it means being good in the sense of being moral. Whether you intend it or not, what you write can have consequences when others read it. Some of these consequences can be personal, and it's up to you how far you let those silence you*. Others are more wide reaching. If what you write has the potential to change peoples opinions towards one another, their society or life in general then it has the potential to do harm. An article clamoring for the acceptance of more refugees risks more terrorist attacks. An article pushing in the opposite direction risks condemning people fleeing war to starvation and a life of misery. Some people only publish weighty articles when they are sufficiently confident that what they are saying is true. I choose to let others see my arguments and judge for themselves what is right rather than presume that I am qualified to make the choice for them. Whatever you choose to do, you can't be neutral on a moving train.
Member discussion