Discover What Good Writing Is All About

ing is a form of preserved talk, talk that has been pinneddown on paper so the words can be heard again. The basic principles of good writing,apart, from grammatical correctness, might be presented as follows: 1) written sentences should sound like natural speech; 2) the words we use must be exact, fresh, full of strength and vitality. Picturemaking words are better than vague, general words; 3) fresh point of view will give flavor to the style; 4) humor will lighten it. Though, it is true that written sentences should sound like natural speech, theyfully present an image of the natural speech. The reasons for this are fairlyobvious: natural speech is a great deal more than words; it is also tone of voice,facial expression, gestures, and even the speaker s appearance. The whole point of writing is to create something better than we really talk something more interesting, more thoughtful, and more effective in every way, for effectiveness is what matters, and if an expression is confusing, ambiguous orunintentionally vague, it can hardly be an effective use of the language. (C.R.E.Parker). The only thing we must borrow from the natural speech to achieve an air ofnaturalness is the rhythm of speech. Now before we speak of sentence rhythm at morelength, we shall consider one of the major qualities of writing sentence length. To begin with, fashions in sentence length constantly change. Past generation weremore hospitable to the long sentences than we are, and prose writers sometimescreated sentences 200-300 words long. They are often well-arranged sentences too;after all, the thought they convey is complex and can be hardly skimmed through.Indeed, some of them present the works of art. In the twentieth century, the tendency in writing has been toward shorter,easier-to-grasp-at-on e glance sentences. - This tendency can be easily explained by the spread of the literacy among massesof people. - Consequently, the style of writing should be clear and comprehensive foreverybody, and aimed at satisfying the demand in easy and interesting reading. - The increase in the tempo of living and absence of leisure-reading matter must befitted to the needs of those who read only in the odd moments of their lives,between household chores and television programs, business meetings and socialduties. Hence, what can be inferred from the length of the sentences the writer uses? Indeed, sentence length and grammatical complexity vary from writer to writer, fromidea to idea, from sentence to sentence. There can t be any general rules, whichevery person, who starts writing should strictly stick to. However, there are ahandful of good ideas that can be applied by the writers. Sentence length depends greatly on the complexity of the idea to be expressed. Inour time, the average length of sentences is somewhere between 20-30 words. Now thesimplicity and naturalness of the written and spoken language is deemphasized. So,the usage of short sentences became the custom of the day. Short sentences can infuse a fresh spirit into the way you write and speak. Get toknow why? * The writer, who wants to persuade the audience, should remember that he willsucceed best when the argument is couched in brief, even staccato sentences. * In most readers mind, the short sentence carries an unmistakable sense of wisdom,because down through the ages it has acted as the setting for all the familiar gemsof truth . * Since there is no room in a very short sentence for anything but one elaboratedthought, it follows that an idea to set forth in such a sentence will receive alarge degree of emphasis. * The short sentences can be used to express the feeling of suspense, excitement, oreven horror. What would be a crime thriller be like without the terse, clippedsentences that portend a tense episode? The concentration upon a few bare facts addsa peculiar sense of horror or vice verse excitement to the narrative. * The very absence of elaboration gives a writer a great opportunity to deliver themessage to the reader in a simple and comprehensive way. * The short sentences give unity to the expressed ideas, relieve monotony of toomany clauses, and in general, make the expression more exact and accurate. Undoubtedly, every writer should pay special attention to the length of thesentences he uses. Thus, the primary concern in writing and speaking must always bethat our sentences fit the thoughts they are communicating.

Source: Express-Press-Release.com

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