The Art of Writing Well
I have never considered myself an exceptional writer. Not even when I wrote an essay for the standardized tests back at the beginning of 8th grade. That essay catapulted me from the lowest level English class all the way to the honors class, in the space of a week. (Disclaimer: I failed English in 7th grade due to sheer laziness, period).
A good friend of mine whom I consider a writer par excellence and I were having a chat when I mentioned that I do not have the patience for crafting prose, making essays or blog posts look like art, with letters. His response was
“That's all there really is to it, right there. Having the desire and patience to sit with a piece for awhile.
I just like the puzzle of saying something differently or better than I have said it before. Like a literary crossword puzzle or something. Anyone who enjoys that can write effective[ly] given practice. From there, there is a quantum leap to the true talents.”
That was an eye-opener for me, to say the least.
I always thought that having an extensive command of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary were prerequisites to expressing oneself beyond normal everyday parlance when putting one’s thoughts to paper.
Not so.
I also though that having been well-read, being familiar with the works of such literary giants as Dickens, Homer, Shakespeare, Eliot, Joyce, and the like, were also necessary to writing beyond the simple uttering of a newspaper or magazine; that being familiar with the craft of those considered great would somehow translate into great writing for those so endowed with that knowledge.
Not so.
To think and realize that writing well is nothing more than taking the time, spending the time, to think out what you are going to say…and then say it in a different way than what you would normally say it…and to write it down…seems so…simplistic. And yet there is such a grain of truth in it, a small grain that if nurtured correctly, can swell vastly disproportionate to its size as a seed, much like a mustard seed swells with time, sunlight and water into a massive tree…
And therein lies the secret to writing well, no matter what it is that you want to write – whether it be a informational article, an expositional essay, or a blog post. Just take the time, spend the time, to write what you want, how you want. If it takes days, then so be it. What you will have produced by doing so will astound and amaze you, if you put forth the effort to do it consistently…
Comments(5)