A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
- What am I trying to say?
- What words will express it?
- What image or idiom will make it clearer?
- Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask himself two more:
- Could I put it more shortly?
- Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
SECONDLY, HERE IS MARK TWAIN ON WRITING:
Twain's Rules of Writing
(from Mark Twain's scathing essay on the Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper)
1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.
7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.
8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.
9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.
11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.
An author should
12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.
7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.
8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.
9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.
11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.
An author should
12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.
Finally, here are a bunch of quotes about writing:
http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/advice.htm
Advice From One Writer to Another
"Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write"
By Richard Nordquist,
When faced with a major project, whether it's designing a bridge or laying new tile in the kitchen, most of us like to rely on experts for advice. So why should a writing project be any different? As we'll see, professional writers have a lot to tell us about the writing process.
Some of the advice may be helpful, some of it encouraging, and some may do no more than raise a smile. Here then is some free advice--from one writer to another.
• "There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges."
(Ernest Hemingway)
• "Writing is an adventure."
(Winston Churchill)
• "There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers."
(H. L. Mencken)
• "Writing is just work--there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes--it's still just work."
(Sinclair Lewis)
• "Nothing you write, if you hope to be any good, will ever come out as you first hoped."
(Lillian Hellman)
• "English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education--sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street."
(E. B. White)
• "Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing."
(Meg Chittenden)
• "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork."
(Peter de Vries)
• "When I finish a first draft, it's always just as much of a mess as it's always been. I still make the same mistakes every time."
(Michael Chabon)
• "Writing is like everything else: the more you do it the better you get. Don't try to perfect as you go along, just get to the end of the damn thing. Accept imperfections. Get it finished and then you can go back. If you try to polish every sentence there's a chance you'll never get past the first chapter."
(Iain Banks)
• "The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them. A young writer must cross many psychological barriers to acquire confidence in his capacity to produce good work--especially his first full-length book--and he cannot do this by staring at a piece of blank paper, searching for the perfect sentence."
(Paul Johnson)
• "Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write."
(Robert Penn Warren)
• "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. . . . Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. . . . Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
(E. L. Doctorow)
• "Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say."
(Sharon O'Brien)
• "I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren't open that early."
(Daniel J. Boorstin)
• "Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."
(Gene Fowler)
• "You fail only if you stop writing."
(Ray Bradbury)
• "Writing is not hard. Just get paper and pencil, sit down, and write as it occurs to you. The writing is easy--it's the occurring that's hard."
(Stephen Leacock)
• "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English--it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them--then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
(Mark Twain)
• "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those, who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent in the human condition."
(Graham Greene)
• "You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country."
(Robert Frost)
• "What this means, in practical terms for the student writer, is that in order to achieve mastery he must read widely and deeply and must write not just carefully but continually, thoughtfully assessing and reassessing what he writes, because practice, for the writer as for the concert pianist, is the heart of the matter."
(John Gardner, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, 1983)
• "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."
(Thomas Mann)
• "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
(Samuel Johnson)
http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/advice.htm
Advice From One Writer to Another
"Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write"
By Richard Nordquist,
When faced with a major project, whether it's designing a bridge or laying new tile in the kitchen, most of us like to rely on experts for advice. So why should a writing project be any different? As we'll see, professional writers have a lot to tell us about the writing process.
Some of the advice may be helpful, some of it encouraging, and some may do no more than raise a smile. Here then is some free advice--from one writer to another.
• "There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges."
(Ernest Hemingway)
• "Writing is an adventure."
(Winston Churchill)
• "There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers."
(H. L. Mencken)
• "Writing is just work--there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes--it's still just work."
(Sinclair Lewis)
• "Nothing you write, if you hope to be any good, will ever come out as you first hoped."
(Lillian Hellman)
• "English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education--sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street."
(E. B. White)
• "Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing."
(Meg Chittenden)
• "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork."
(Peter de Vries)
• "When I finish a first draft, it's always just as much of a mess as it's always been. I still make the same mistakes every time."
(Michael Chabon)
• "Writing is like everything else: the more you do it the better you get. Don't try to perfect as you go along, just get to the end of the damn thing. Accept imperfections. Get it finished and then you can go back. If you try to polish every sentence there's a chance you'll never get past the first chapter."
(Iain Banks)
• "The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them. A young writer must cross many psychological barriers to acquire confidence in his capacity to produce good work--especially his first full-length book--and he cannot do this by staring at a piece of blank paper, searching for the perfect sentence."
(Paul Johnson)
• "Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write."
(Robert Penn Warren)
• "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. . . . Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. . . . Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."
(E. L. Doctorow)
• "Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say."
(Sharon O'Brien)
• "I write to discover what I think. After all, the bars aren't open that early."
(Daniel J. Boorstin)
• "Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."
(Gene Fowler)
• "You fail only if you stop writing."
(Ray Bradbury)
• "Writing is not hard. Just get paper and pencil, sit down, and write as it occurs to you. The writing is easy--it's the occurring that's hard."
(Stephen Leacock)
• "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English--it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them--then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
(Mark Twain)
• "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those, who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent in the human condition."
(Graham Greene)
• "You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country."
(Robert Frost)
• "What this means, in practical terms for the student writer, is that in order to achieve mastery he must read widely and deeply and must write not just carefully but continually, thoughtfully assessing and reassessing what he writes, because practice, for the writer as for the concert pianist, is the heart of the matter."
(John Gardner, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers, 1983)
• "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."
(Thomas Mann)
• "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
(Samuel Johnson)
The writing advice given here is very useful in guiding myself as well as amateur and professional writers. Coming from some of the best authors around, there is no doubt that each piece of advice gives even more insight on how to produce a great paper. There are three main messages that resonate with me from these quotes. The first one is that writing is a labor of love, with labor being the emphasis. It requires time and effort and dedication to make something worth reading. The last quote from Samuel Jackson sums this up quite well. He says, "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure". The next main point I took from this reading was to not be overly verbose. So that the material being written about is not "lost" by too many unncessary words. There should enough words at the appropiate level to connect with the audience the writer is speaking to and explain the subject matter thoroughly. However, there should not however be so many "big" words that the reader has to run to the dictionary twice a sentence. Mark Twain's quote in the bunch of quotes sums this up quite nicely. Lastly, the point made by H.L. Mencken about there being no dull subjects only dull writers is one that stood out to me. In other words, the subject can be only as intriguing as the effort thats put in to make it intriguing. I plan to implement all three of these skills in my own future writings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It takes effort and dedication to become a great writer. Like anything else, what you put into something will show in the outcome. The writer should also be aware of his audience as well as eventually finding the just words to present his/her information or story.
DeleteThe advice and information provided by these various authors is very enlightening and different. After reading Orwell’s questions makes me think that they should be applied to your writing in order to see if your writing is clear and to the point. It is almost like a check list to see if what you wrote is written eloquently and as simple as possible. In addition, after reading some of the quotes I was able to relate to, “The writing is not hard. Just get paper and pencil, sit down and write as it occurs to you. The writing is easy—it’s the occurring that’s hard” by Stephen Leacock. Two aspects of writing that are difficult for me are: the beginning where to have the thoughts occur to me clear enough to write on paper and to make it simple. The first paragraph is the hardest as you try to get your thoughts together, after that you have an idea of what you want to write for the rest of your paper. I was also able to relate to the quote by Mark Twain, “I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English--it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them--then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice". I completely agree with Twain here because everything he said is true. As he stated “don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in” and I struggle with writing because I have a tendency of being too wordy. Thus, after every time I write a paper I proofread it by reading it aloud to myself to find ways of making it simpler or shorter. I also agree with Twain about using adjectives but to a minimum that way they can be valued more when the writing is complete. Overall, these were the two quotes I related to and agree with the most because I think writing is hard in the beginning, but the writing process becomes easier and should be written plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jocelyn. The beginning is the hardest part in writing any paper. It takes a lot of effort and time to find something to write and when you find it, it will be very hard to put your thoughts together. I also agree with you regarding the importance of keeping writing simple and clear not just repeated adjectives. It is useful to use adjectives but keep it to the minimum in the way that serves your purpose.
DeleteEach author provided great information and useful techniques that can significantly improve any writer’s work. By following Orwell’s questions, writers can stay focused on communicating their ideas to their readers in the clearest way possible. Orwell’s advice of cutting out unnecessary words was his best advice because many, including myself, tend to let what Mark Twain called “fluff” overwhelm our writing. Twain claimed that the best and modern writers use “plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences.” The best writers are those who communicate their ideas simply so that their readers can easily understand them. However, when writing many people can quickly become too wordy often because we tend to associate complexity with excellence. The problem with this is that our writing becomes unnecessarily complicated. Another quote that stood out the most to me was by Iain Banks. Banks indicated, “Writing is like everything else: the more you do it the better you get. Don't try to perfect as you go along, just get to the end of the damn thing. Accept imperfections. Get it finished and then you can go back. If you try to polish every sentence there's a chance you'll never get past the first chapter." This is great advice, especially for me, because I always find myself wasting time worrying about having a perfect paper even before I begin writing. I have noticed that the writing process is less frustrating when I get all of my ideas out first and then go back to revise. Overall, these authors provided useful information that I can incorporate in my future writing.
ReplyDeleteDrivera, I agree with you each author did provide useful techniques to improve writing. I really like how Twain says not to use so much "fluff," and I agree that it will overwhelm your writing. I feel like "fluff" overwhelms my writing too, too many unnecessary words can only confuse readers.
DeleteI also agree with Banks, practice does make perfect. Practice writing to become better writers, that is what most English teachers say.
I think your look on this advice falls on the same line of what I think about this advice. I love it!
This is amazing advice coming from such writing experts. I believe this is amazing advice because i myself have never heard all that is written: for example, "Never use a long word where a short one will do." This is so true, why make your writing complicated just get your point across sooner than later. Sometimes one might want to use big wrods to sound more sophisticated, but you just might be confussing your reader while doing that. Like Twain says, "Use the right word, not its second cousin." I completely agree with Twain, I also tend to use the second cousin and therefore lose my focus with all the uneeded wording.
ReplyDeleteThis is very useful information for writing, which I had found it sooner!
I agree with you Enalisa. The bit of advice given by Orwell hit home for me also. Sometimes people are way too verbose in their writings. A paper can be written succinctly ,using "short words", and have as big of an impact as a full report using all "long words". Often times, when I've read some of my classmates' papers for a particular assignment I can tell where the person ran to the thesaurus to select the biggest synonym they could find. Orwell statement reminds writers that this is so unnecessary. I also like Twain's quote. I agree that the proper word selection is crucial to the success of a good paper.
DeleteI agree with you both, that these experts provide great and useful advice. It is true that we often find ourselves searching for more complex words to replace simpler words. This leads to overly complex and unnecessary writing that can confuse your reader. According to Twain, the best writers are those who use simple language. I agree because using simple and straightforward language assures that your readers will easily understand your writing.
DeleteThe writing advice and information provided gives some very useful techniques in helping me improve my writing. This is advice that must be follow especially since is coming from writers that are well known and know what they are speaking of. Following these techniques well have me improving my writing in no time. Orwell gives a good point when he states that before a writer writes he or she should have an idea of the point they are trying to get across. It is important to keep it short and simple and not say more than it’s needed. He also states that it is important to make sure your writing is clear to your audience. I think that is very important because sometimes it might be clear to you the writer but not to whom you are writing it to, that’s why it’s important to have someone review it first. Mark Twain also gives some good pointers such as, “a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.” It is important that if you are going to write it should be because of a reason. Make sure your writing is clear on that. Twain does a good job in imply that a good writer makes the reader want to connect with the protagonist and cheer on for him or her, just as well as the writer should make them hate the antagonist. It is important for me to take note that a good writer uses proper grammar, sometimes I tend to forget where certain comas and simple stuff like that should take place. The quotes that we were provided with were very motivational such as the one by Richard Nordquist, “Real writers are those who want to write, need to write, have to write.” I take this quote as anybody can be a writer as long as you have the motivation and drive to write.
ReplyDeleteAfter finishing the reading, I realized how much more I need to try and do with even my casual writings. There were some very interesting and useful pieces of advice from every author, many of which I use in most of my writing, often times, without realizing it. I think one of the best pieces of advice, in my opinion, was Orwell's list of processes an author should go through before writing even a simple sentence. I think I may even going through those four main points before completing a writing assignment. I also think many of the quotes were very interesting and insightful. While it is not directly pertain to advice on writing, my favorite quote was from Peter de Vries,"I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork." I found the quote to be not only humorous, but very true! When faced with a large writing assignment, I often feel exact as peter states. I really enjoyed this reading assignment.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe first part of this reading from Orwell's Essay is the most useful to me. The rules he has listed are straightforward and to the point. In his essay, some of the rules are ones I have been trying to apply to myself just this year. For instance "Never use a long word where a short one will do” and "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out". I have a personal example of where this applied to my school work. I had a group project and I made myself in charge of the PowerPoint. I had my group members submit their information to me and I cut their information down to one slide per person and they could elaborate on it. The day of my presentation, other groups told me that they had 32 slides and others 15 to 20. I got nervous and told them my group only had 8 slides. They all looked at me wide eyed. Well, my groups presentation still was the required amount time and when we were done, the other groups came up to me and said "You really only had 8 slides, how did you do that?" They couldn't believe that we were able to give a 30 minute presentation with only 8 slides. When it comes down to it, you don't need all that fancy schmancy extra crap. Make it simple, clean, and to the point. It keeps people from being distracted. Finally from Orwell's essay I really like this rule: "Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent." All I can say to this rule is -thank you. I like the acronym K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid - haha. When I read something that is overloaded with jargon it is pointless and a waste of time reading it because I don't understand that language anyways. Finally, I love this rule from Mark Twain: 10. “The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones." This is so true; all I have to say with this is Harry Potter. When I finished the last book, embarrassingly enough I cried. I felt like I had went through a journey with Harry and everybody and it was all over. It was the end to a friendship, and an end to one of the best books I have ever read. Yes, it is a young adult book, haha.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled to myself a little when reading the above comments on writing. I so enjoyed seeing that some of the greatest authors of all time felt the same as myself. “Never use a long word where a short one will do.,” this quote from George Orwell is how I have always felt about writing. As students, we all have been “required” to write on a topic that may not be the most interesting or easily written about. A point can be made just as well with 250 words as 500 words if the point is made directly and succinctly. As Mark Twain appropriately states it, “…don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in…” Fluff, this is such a simplistic way to state the obvious, state your point and move on to the next topic or idea.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your post. I think when you put too many words or draw it out longer then it has to be then people become bored and loose interest. Now if only we could convince our professors that we only need to explain our point in less than what is normally required, haha.
DeleteI find myself agreeing with a lot of the quotes. Most of the time, the hardest thing about writing is organizing the thoughts in my head so that I can put them down on paper in a meaningful way. Being able to put your thoughts into a coherent form that gets your point across in such a way that it is understandable and both long enough to cover the subject and short enough so as not to be long and drawn out. Creating a writing process that fits my style of learning and writing has been incredibly important. It is helpful to have when I have severe writers block. It keeps me going and allows me to generate the ideas necessary to cover a given topic. Reading what other authors have to say about the writing process and the difficulties that go along with it is funny and helps me keep the writing process in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI also have difficulty with trying to organize my thoughts and make them flow nicely. It is hard for me to keep things short and straight to the point, because I have a tendency to draw things out. Finding a writing process that fits me perfectly is still a work in progress, but it's getting there. Whenever I get writers block I take a quick break than try again later. I was happy to see that these writers had similar problems.
DeleteElaine Souvannakham
ReplyDeleteWeek 1 Reading
.
This week’s reading includes tips and ideas a writer can refer to when writing a formal paper or essay. The first part of the reading includes questioners a student would ask himself before beginning a paper. One of the questions that stood out to me was the question “what am I trying to say?” Every time I begin my papers, I have to brainstorm ideas I want to write about, and sometimes it gets to a point where my mind gets stuck. The only way I can redirect myself to the right route is to ask myself what am I really trying to say? Orwell’s essay really showed a good representation of what writers can ask themselves when completing sentences, paragraphs, theories, etc. Mark Twain’s Rules of Writing includes 18 list of how a tale should be written. The questions are written in what seems to be old English. Some of the words in the questions make it difficult to understand what the question is really saying. To me, it sounds fancy, inspiring, and dramatic. For example, number 3. The sentence in #3 includes “the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the other,” (Mark Twain). If you ask me to interpret the meaning of that sentence, I can honestly say that I cannot make it out. I have to think about it for as long as I can, and it’ll eventually come to me. Reading the section for the quotes are all invigorating. It definitely is a lot easier to understand than Mark Twain’s Rules of Writing. These are written advice and techniques for writers who are looking for motivation. One of the quotes that I liked was “there are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers,” (H. L. Mencken). I have had an English professor tell me that when a subject or topic is given to students to write about, they should be able to expand their ideas for the quality of their paper. I can agree to this at some extent. The other quote that I enjoyed reading was “writing is easy: all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead,” (Gene Fowler). If I am not mistaken, this quote means that if you sit and think about what you’re going to write, ideas will eventually come to your head. I love reading riddles so quotes like these are my favorites.
I enjoyed reading the quotes and works of advise. I found many of the quotes to have light humor incorporated into them. I feel that as I've gotten older, my writing skills have decreased. In college, depending on your choice of major, writing isn't always necessary. I'm a biology major and if there is any writing involved it is in a lab report layout. I found a lot of these quotes to be true as well as helpful. One must put effort into what you're writing in order for it to translate to the reader. The way a paper or passage is written has a lot to do with how much the reader enjoys it. A writer must also be careful to write without overwriting. Too many fancy words can clutter what the writer is trying to get across. I believe writers have a difficult job. It's not the act of writing that is difficult but coming up with the words and having the ability to train your mind to constantly produce great works.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the aspect that not every major involves writing or at least not much writing. My major is nursing and we write summaries about patient centered care articles or fill out paperwork with factual data. Thus, we do not have much writing or creative writing.Also, I agree with you that a writer's job is very difficult because they have to come up with what to write and make sure they do not clutter the material with unneccesary wording.
DeleteAs I read these "writing rules" I guess I can call them, I found that I do not actively think about them. I just do them. Some of them I never knew were rules and some I need to practice on but this advice is great advice that I will take into consideration. My favorite quote was "There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers." (H. L. Mencken). I thought this funny but true. Everyone seems to groan about writing a paper as I myself am guilty of but once I get going, the words just keep flowing and it actually becomes enjoyable. If you don't have an open mind, how are you going to get people to like what you write if you are writing like you do not care?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I also believe that if force ourselves to write on a topic that is at no interest for us, it can be a painful process. I was also unfamiliar with the rules that we were introduced to on this reading. I believe I will too be more conscious about my writing, specially using long and complicated words when short and simple words will do a better job.
DeleteThe reading provides students with important information in regards to the writing process. I do believe that writing is a form of art and it takes creative individuals to create amazing results. I absolutely agree that in a story there should be a main goal and the necessary aspects to get there. As the reading notes at first, the clearer and short, the story is the better. I understand that a story that well developed allows the reader to become intimate with the story. From the reading that I have done, I have always been amazed when I get lost in the story and feel as if I was actually there. Allowing the characters tell their story within a story and providing the reader with a clear understanding of their individual situation and the story as a whole can be challenging. A great writer is capable of that and more. The listed quotes are helpful for the understanding process of what writers think of their own work and the process and dedication it requires. I also agree with some of the comments that point out the love a writer has for writing. An artist that is born to be an artist naturally attains the motivation and creativity as opposed to an individual who is on the making. However, some writers do attain the motivation and dedication and continue to struggle with attaining the desired level of performance, which is a motive to seek assistance from someone who is experienced and is knowledgeable that can provide the necessary guidance.
ReplyDeleteI have always envied those who could write an essay in an hour. I've convinced myself that one's writing talent at least partially hinged on the quickness with which they could produce material and measured my ability against that standard much to my own disappointment. With that said, I found this compilation of tips and quotes about writing to be extremely refreshing and encouraging. As a freelance reporter for a local newspaper, I am often discouraged by the fact that I have to spend about an hour pulling my hair out, thinking of possible leads, before any keyboard action takes place.Writing anything, whether it be a paragraph in an email or a ten-page final paper, has always been a painstaking task for me, but I am rejuvenated by the above quotes that reveal this as a universal experience among serious writers. I especially enjoyed reading Chittenden's quote about writers being those who hear "voices in their heads," similar to those with mental illnesses. Though I hope to write books in the future, I worry that I won't be able to capture everything I want to say, since some of the best material comes rushing through my mind in tangled explosions during inconvenient moments such as during a conversation with somebody, while driving, in the middle of a job, or going for a run. Being a writer can be a lonely experience, mostly because it can entail treating relationships as potential writing material. Therefore, going slightly insane, I believe, is part of the job description. I took a creative writing course once that led me to conclude that I was not cut out to be a writer, but after reading this piece, I feel much more confident and willing to embrace the experience of writing for what it is - a grueling, yet rewarding process.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read these tips for writing, they sounded like advice on how to fix my own writing. For example, in Orwell's essay, he says to cut out unnecessary words and to use short words instead of long words. I sometimes may use more words then needed when trying to get my point across but not on purpose. Also, I tend to use long words so I sound more sophisticated and now, I understand that I need to do the opposite; that it is better to use more simple words so others can understand than to make myself sound better. I also very much like what Mark Twain says about what a good tail should be or accomplish because everything that is written, is exactly what I like to read in a book and how I like it to come across. This work is like an instruction booklet for someone on how to write a book for me. All of the quotes that are stated, sound like exactly what a writer does or how they feel. I especially like what Stephen Leacock writes about how writing is not hard it's the occuring that is the hard part because there is nothing more true than that. Fifuring what you will write is harder than the writing itself; once you get the gist of what you will write, the words sort of flow out.
ReplyDeleteThe information and beautiful quotes provided above are so helpful. The first two parts, which include Orwell’s questions and Twain’s rules of writings, gave a good check list and easy guide to verify how clear and simple one’s writing is. They are practical guide that can be applied to most types of paper. The reason I’ve said most not all is that writing scientific research paper require using some complicated scientific terms that cannot be explained by a single phrase or sentence. Moving on, the quotes part is really animating and gave me a big push and hope that one day I can write a paper easily with neither fear nor stress. I usually have trouble starting any essay regardless of its level of difficulty. I also struggle and spend long time in trying to make each sentence perfect in the first place. After reading these quotes I picked three of them and saved them in a separate file, and then I decided to try what they are saying. One quote, by Iain Banks, says that “Don't try to perfect as you go along, just get to the end of the damn thing. Accept imperfections. If you try to polish every sentence there's a chance you'll never get past the first chapter.” this is indeed what happens with me. I try and try to make each sentence perfect but I get stuck in the first part and I would hardly move to the next part. Paul Johnson emphasized the same point in his quote saying "The writer…. must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them.” additionally John Gardner added another important point in order to achieve your goal producing a good paper is to read widely and deeply and to write continually and the more you practice the more you get better. I started to write everything, on a paper, as it flows out of my mind, and later I can go back and fixed. To me, the results were great because I was able to write this paper with no fear of writing at all.
ReplyDeleteEven though I do not consider myself a writer, i found myself relating to some of the quotes. I do not consider myself much of a reader either, however, I am working on both. I especially enjoyed the more humorous comments from the various writers. The best part to me is how short the advice and comments are. Great wisdom doesn't have to take up a whole page. One of my favorite quotes in this list is the very last one by Samuel Johnson that states that "[w]hat is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." I think this can be applied to so many other things. I am an art major who has turned in many an overnight piece of work...doesn't turn out so well. I have definitely learned this lesson the hard way. Rarely does laziness turn out to be rewarding. It is interesting as well to see what advice and quotes others find to be the most useful.
ReplyDeleteI also do not consider myself much of a reader nor a writer but I can get on a roll and produce some good stuff once I am writing and know what I am writing about. I agree very much with this quote as well. If someone writes about something they aren't the least bit interested in or something that they can care less about, it will be boring causing no one to want to read it. It is just like when one person is down, everyone becomes sad or akward as well. It sends out a vibe and that can cause a reader to not care as well.
Delete“Writing is not hard. Just get paper and pencil, sit down, and write as it occurs to you. The writing is easy--it’s the occurring that’s hard;” I like this quote given by Stephen Leacock, because for me if someone had asked if writing was hard this is the type of answer I would have given. What Stephen Leacock says is true. It’s easy putting a pen to paper; the hard part is coming up with something to write about. I also like the tips given by Orwell. Often I always wondered why people would use long words when they could have used a much simpler word. I also like that Orwell was a fan of putting things into “layman’s terms,” because it is very difficult to read something when it sounds like something a doctor put together using all of his medical terms, rather than dumbing it down a bit. When I was in high school one of my English teachers told my class that she would rather have us write with words we normally use then have us use a thesaurus. She said this because one of her students thought their essay sounded too dumb so they used a thesaurus on almost every word, which made it very confusing for his peers to understand it when they were peer reviewing each others papers. I’d also like to comment on Robert Frost’s quote, where he says: “You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country." I like this quote because it was very funny and to me humor is very important, it’s what gives our life color. I think you’re a great writer when you can see a bit of yourself in your works of art, because that is what is going to speak on your behalf when you are gone.
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