Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Saying Is Believing
The way a writer reaches out to the reader is the same way a speaker reaches out to its audience, and we as readers or listeners want clarity and understanding of the point trying to be conveyed. Saying is Believing by Patricia T. O’ Connor provided some great tips for me in improving and making my writing clearer. She puts it best when she says “A good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat”. I could not agree more. In my opinion, a good writer is understandable and clear, and O’Connor provides some great insight on how to be a better writer. According to O’Connor, a good writer can directly express their point, avoids redundancy, and puts their ideas in an order that is easily understood. There are a couple of tips that O’Connor offered are particularly helpful for me. The first was not to belabor the obvious. In other words, the reader will understand the point better without extra prepositional phrases, something I do too often in my writing. The second tip was especially helpful for me, that is to just repeat a word that fits instead of using an ill fitted substitute. Often I tie myself in a knot trying to figure out different words to use instead of just repeating a word, when in fact it is often a lot easier for a reader to understand if I do just repeat the word. Lastly, but most importantly is to use an active voice by being direct. To be direct it is important to say what you have to say, and stop when you have said it. The active voice can help both readers and writers because it provides clarity. O’Conner also states that many people are brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher going. By this she means that people tend to believe that bigger of more confusing words and statements, the writer is smarter and the text is ultimately better. Often this is simply not the case. I agree that a good writer has the ability to take complex ideas and express them with clarity, instead of confusing the reader. If the reader is forced to use a dictionary just to understand every other word, or if statements are so complex that it is hard to comprehend, the writing may not be so great after all. I am very fortunate to have read these tips that O’Connor has provided, and look forward to using them in my future writings.
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I agree with you O'Conner provided us with some insightful tips that we can use to make our writing more reader friendly and easier to understand. I particularly liked your opening sentence it actually caught my eye when I was going through the new posts on the blogger dashboard trying to figure out which posts to read first and guess what? Your post is the first one I have read. Anyway the sentence stated, "The way a writer reaches out to the reader is the same way a speaker reaches out to its audience, and we as readers or listeners want clarity and understanding of the point trying to be conveyed." This is a great point and is very true. When writing we should all remember this helpful tip.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did not use O'Conner to write about in my blog I am glad you did. It actually reminded me of some things that, as a writer, I should keep in mind. I think you made a good point when you put in O'Conner's statement that read, "O’Conner also states that many people are brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher going." This is a good point, we do not have to use big or complex words with complicated sentences to be a good writer. We can achieve being a good writer by making our writing clear, concise, and to the point.
I agree with you on how, “A writer reaches out to the reader is the same way a speaker reaches out to it’s audience, and as we as readers or listeners want clarity and understanding of the point trying to be conveyed.” O’Conner I believe is exactly correct when she says that a good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat. How wants to be part of an audience where you are not quite understanding what is going on which is making you nervous? I would want to be and reader or audience that is able to understand exactly what is being told to me or what I’m reading on my own. I left that also O’Conner gave some excellent pointers on how to be able to convey a great writer. Get right to the point! Don’t try to make your writing or speech giving so complex that you are confusing people instead of helping them understand your point of view. O’Conner gives points to help you as well, so when you are writing, you are not just trying to add informartion that no one will understand, but make it simple and to the point that way everyone will know what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteI related to what you were trying to say when you said you often I find yourself in a knot trying to figure out different words to use instead of just repeating a word, when in fact it is often a lot easier for a reader to understand if you do just repeat the word. I find myself doing that quite often, pretty much every time I’m writing a paper. There were many good pointers that O’Conner gave which I found you giving examples to your audience that clarifys more on what she is trying to say, I also say that you used some of her views in your blog which I thought was fantastic.