Writing style

Writing is an art that gives you power to communicate with your readers. Few people in the world are gifted with this art naturally although most of us believe or think that it comes easily or as god-gift but that is not true. That is what is truth about good writing but people having fake self-confidence, willing to climb up slippery polls without looking at realities are either unknown with this important factor or worse case – They think it’s an easy job, anyone can do without learning it. The fact is writing is an art that comes with time and once you learn it, just see the changes in yourself, you will be amazed.

You can reach many people at the same time

We should not forget another fact that the one who learns it with his personal efforts with the time, only gets better but never achieves the heights of a natural writer. By acquiring communication skills in your writing is as good as an art as speaking to your audience but with a difference. While you address to your audience, your reach is limited to a few hundred or few thousands people but by writing you can reach to many more people at the same time without coming in direct touch with them.

Writing is an art that comes in handy in different fields of life. I know I am no good in this art because I am a newbie and still in the beginning stage of it. Whatever writing I have done so far is the result of my constant efforts but I hail the people who can do it at the drop of a hat, a simple hint and they will write anything for you – example the secretaries available to politicians and administrators who can write as soon as they get an instruction to do so.

Short is intelligent

However, we all are not that gifted, at least I never was. I would say I was good at writing official reports, making notes, responding to my clients and of course, I can add in the list the letters I wrote to family and friends, that was not a small matter for me but that certainly does not come into any of the writing categories. But, I always thought that a good writer was able to provide maximum information in shortest of time and least number of words while writing about a particular topic. I agree, I am a strong critic of Pundit Nehru as a politician but at the same time, I have lot of respect for him as a writer. If he had chosen writing his whole time job, he would have reached to the top of the world. But it was not to be because he was forced into politics.  

I have a strong feeling that someone willing to become a good writer should know it well that if his thoughts are scattered and not reaching to his readers, it simply fails the purpose of writing. Your writing will be more effective if it is to the point and having a solid to the point content, whatever the thought, expression, fact or message it contains. Remember – Shortness is the magic of intelligence or, as Shakespeare said through one of his characters – “brevity is the soul of wit"

Short but not incomplete

When I say short is intelligent it certainly does not mean that one should not provide all the details needed for a particular topic. For instance if I invited one of my clients to my office and did not provide him with address of my office, that will not be a good idea. Or, in case I posted a letter to my dealers regarding new products, which are to be launched shortly but did not provide them with a product brochure that would be absolutely foolish of me. It is true for writing on different subjects also one should write keeping in mind, that ‘brief’ is good but you should provide enough material and information for your readers. There is another point here which may sound weird but a writer should never consider that your reader is as knowledgeable who will understand everything without you providing him the whole information. A writer should not opt for briefness at the cost of being clear. A writer should put across his thoughts to reach to his readers in a very clear manner.

Here is my weak point

Go to any forums, reviews or wherever a person especially the self-appointed critic gets a chance to speak about writing styles or grammar part of writing, they make it a point to criticize anyone or everyone without any hesitation. I am sure a fan of Eliot will criticize a post of Eliot if they ever happen to read something without reading the name of the poster. Criticizing comes naturally to self-appointed critics even if they make the same mistakes but that gives a sense of insecurity to new writers and they in turn commit more mistakes or adapt to unnatural style of writing.

I admit that I have never thought of any writing styles but always chosen to write the way I liked or what came to me easily. I know one thing for sure, that everyone has own style of dressing, eating and writing. I don’t mean that one should not improve with the passing time, one should certainly improve by acquiring experience. It is just as one improves his dressing style when his wife tells him that he looks like a monkey in a red shirt, he would never want to wear a red shirt again same is good for a new writer but without being harsh. One should avoid being harsh or being too knowledgeable while giving your suggestions to a new writer about his mistakes. You certainly don’t want to treat a newbie as a teacher, especially when they have not appointed you for the purpose or not paid you any fee for that. But the world is full of all kind of people. There are some whom you like and at the same time there are others whom you don’t like, you are free to take your pick.

Finally

I don’t know about renowned writers because I have nothing in common with them but I prefer to use smaller sentences and words that I understand better than the phrases and words which are ‘foreign’ to me. How would you like to read ‘ I did not come because it was too sunny’ to “ I could have come if the god has not chosen to make the day too sunny for my comfort, I hope you did not mind if I did not come’. The fact is that I never use words, which I do not understand myself and I hope you would not laugh if I tell you that I feel the same about my readers. There is another reason I do not use very complicated long words coming right out of the highly literary books because I do not have a dictionary (Oxford) I have a single barrel gun that fires once at a time and hits the bird. Maybe I do not want to waste my ammunition firing blindly by AK-47, but shooting none.

photo source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft_gun