Communication, expressing one’s views either by way of spoken words or by writing has always been of critical importance as that is the very medium of giving a vent to or sharing one’s thoughts and ideas to society at large. In this cyber age fortunately we have very convenient and accessible mediums , right in our palms and at our finger tips!.Hence more opportunities to express oneself , and how does one do that? , mostly through posts on social media and this requires writing albeit in its different manifestations which is typing on smart phones/ ipads / tablets/ laptops and such other devices. As it is so convenient more and more people are expressing their views and for that of course writing , in whatever form , is required. With so many people putting across their views what stands out is effective articulation and hence the relevance of essentials of good writing.
This is precisely is the objective of this post of mine on the blog.
At the threshold I express my gratitude and dedicate this writeup to Goplan M’am , my English teacher while I was in class 8 in my school. Goplan M’am instilled in me the basics of grammatical usage and expression, the importance of consulting Dictionary, structuring of sentences , in nutshell essentials of good writing. This stood me in good stead in years to follow and still do.
In this writeup of mine my focus is on core aspects of good writing. Good writing like good speaking is an evolutionary aspect which refines with time. It is on the evolutionary attribute of writing I would like to lay emphasis upon. It primarily comes from basic principles of good writing which we have been taught to us in school days. So its basically a “ Back to School” approach.Its not in vain that we were taught the usage of ,active – passive voice; direct – indirect speech; punctuation; usage of articles and vowels; comprehension passages, precis writing etc. This stays in our subconcious . Speaking for myself I always fall back upon and draw from my inner resoures of what I learnt in school , which has always helped me.
I felt that this kind of intro was required. One of the essentials of good writing is that should present an easy read. This is what I have endeavoured in this article.
Attributes of Good Writing
“ The more you read the better you write”
Believe me this maxim always works. I would also hasten to add that reading need not necessarily be confined to conventional way of reading, reading in whatever form helps.Reading disciplines our mind, keeps us focussed and is an ever learning experience to come across new words and expressions.This in turn subconsciously hones our writing skills.
Simple expression
One of the essentials of good writing is lucid expression.Lucid expression in other words means clarity.So one of our first principles should be ‘ use of simple sentences’. Compound sentences need be used only as a last resort and as far as possible use of complex sentences have to be avoided.
Official writing
Official writings have many formats, it could be report writing; office notings; drafting executive orders; official communications and emails ; reference papers; concept papers in some fields even drafting of speeches etc. Whatever maybe the mode of official writing , it needs to be structured , lucid , analytical thereby effectively serving the purpose for which the official communication has been initiated. Here too the basic attributes of good writing are applicable. Here the key word is focus.For ensuring focus the threshold parameters are:
- Clarity
- Plain simple language for expression
- Focus on matter being attempted for less ambiguities and quick disposal
- A crisp , concise conclusion.
Now I would dwell upon general parameters vis a vis Good Writing.
All we need to do
- Regular reading ( read whatever you like)
- Back to school approach.
- Honing up our comprehension solving and precis writing skills
- Factoring within us Dictionary consulting habit ( it now very easy to look up on net) never losing sight of correct usage of grammar.
- As the famous quotation goes ,’ Fools rush where angels fear to tread’.
Not to rush at writing anything ( For necessary impact I would here prefer to address readers directly)
- First, read carefully and in peaceful frame of mind all relevant material on which a note, brief, communication or report has to be prepared.
- Sideline what you think is important .
- Make short notes on such points which you think is important.
Mark my words by now you would have achieved a proper frame of mind and a comfort zone. Now you are actually ready to draft what has been assigned to you or you wish to work upon .
Plain Writing
I also find it pertinent to draw attention to some standard norms of plain writing as currently in vogue.
Paul Conway in his book Syntactic Ambiguity has dwelt at length on the importance of ‘ Plain Drafting’. According to Paul Conway “ the call for plain language dates back to Chaucer’s Dream.
It would be of interest to note the following extracts from the book titled Legislative Drafting-Shaping the Law for the new millennium ( by the Indian Law Institute -revised and updated by Shri T. K. Viswanathan , former Secretary General , Lok Sabha ). “ Dissatisfaction with the language of law led to the English Parliament thrice to change the language of law by legislation. The first attempt was made by Statute of Pleading in 1362.It decried the use of French. It required the language of the courts to be English ( but documents to be recorded in Latin) …The second attempt was a Statute prompted by Cromwell’s Parliament “ for turning the Books of Law…into English. It was principally aimed at court proceedings but it included requirement that’ statutes ..shall be in the English tongue’..The third attempt to change the language of law to English was by means of legislation passed in 1731 requiring that all court proceedings and statutes ‘ shall be in the English tongue and language only and not in Latin or French and ( court proceedings shall be written in such a common and legible hand and character , as the Acts of Parliament are usually engrossed in….’”( Chapter VIII -Plain Language Drafting , page 125).
Simple Writing
It would also be of interest to note rules of simple writing as enunciated by L.M.L.Turnbill,QC. Turnbill outlines Rules of Simple Writing. According to him it consists in adopting the following measures:
- Using shorter , better constructed sentences
- Avoiding jargon and unfamiliar words.
- Using shorter words.
- Avoiding double and triple negatives.
- Using the positive rather than the negative.
- Using the active voice instead of the passive voice
- Keeping related words as close together as possible , for example , not separating subject from verb, or auxiliary verb from main verb.
- Using parallel structures to express similar ideas in a similar form for example , not mixing ‘if’ and ‘unless’ clauses.
Summation
At the end of the day , writing is a labour of love. It has always been so with me. Writing is pleasure always ,view it that way!
