Good writing keeps the reader in mind. Presumably, we are all writing for an audience and, as readers ourselves, we know that clear writing – writing devoid of unnecessary and unintentional ambiguity – allows meaning to be conveyed much more effectively.

Though we could all think of instances where skilled writers have done away with convention and produced something brilliant, the following guidelines are a good starting point. One must know and understand the conventions before one can successfully break them, right?

Guidelines for “Good Writing”

• As writers, we should generally be trying to avoid jargon. Jargon terms that are used in certain circles, such as business or science, are often much less effective than simpler language.

• Clichés and overused terms and phrases should also be avoided. When a word or phrase is overused it loses its impact. Clichés do nothing to convey meaning or paint a vivid picture for a reader.

• For the most part, is it preferable to conform to grammatically conventional sentence structures and punctuation, unless it is for an intended occasional or experimental emphasis.

• Avoid what is often termed as “purple prose”, that is, overuse of similes and metaphor, and overly descriptive language. Often, new writers are tempted to employ all their best descriptions at once for full effect, when, ironically, the poetry is lost in the onslaught of description.

• Avoid excessive use of adjectives and adverbs. Often, less is more.

• Keep dialogue tags, e.g., “he growled”, “she whispered knowingly”, and so on, to a minimum. Again, simplicity often works best.

• Try to avoid the use of euphemisms. Often getting to the point in clear, simple language is best.

• Avoid using nouns as verbs.

• Keep punctuation to a minimum. Separate a sentence into two if it seems to be becoming heavily punctuated. Even though Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf got away with monstrously long sentences, for getting across a point, nothing beats a simple sentence.

• Be watchful of non-intentional shifts in tense in your writing. If you do shift tense, it should be for a clear purpose. To mark a tense shift you should use a line space. Tense changes should not take place within a scene, paragraph and especially not a sentence. Tense changes, when not handled skilfully, can be confusing and distracting for a reader.

• Active voice is often preferred in writing to a passive voice as it is more concise and sounds much bolder. See the difference between the next two examples in which one character embraces another.

Passive voice: “Sean was hugged by Sue.”

Active Voice: “Sue hugged Sean.”

As you can see, these are merely guidelines and many skilled writers have challenged and broken convention successfully. However, to break with convention successfully one must have a clear creative or technical purpose.

In summation, the “Golden Rule”, as I see it, is to keep things clear and simple. “Less is more” seems to be the adage to keep in mind while writing. Often, when we try too hard to push a point or paint a scene for a reader the inherent poetry in what we are describing is buried under adjectives and adverbs, metaphor and similes.

Giving Feedback

The aim of this course is to both develop your own writing skills further, and to give your peers honest, constructive feedback on the writing they produce along the way.

I find in reading and appraising other people’s writing, your own sense of what is effective writing and how to write successfully is also developed.

Needless to say, when it does come time to give your feedback, remember to be tactful. Often, in appraising a piece of writing it is best to begin with something positive, work your way to the areas you believe need to be improved and end again on a positive note. Try to leave your own personal taste out of the appraisal process and focus on the guidelines to ‘good writing’ I’ve just discussed. Remember that we are not focusing on content, but on your peers’ style, structure and use of language.

Read your peers’ work, asking yourself whether the writing is clear, whether the overall structure was successful, whether there were sections that felt clumsy or overwritten. Was there a clear voice and tone? Was the tense consistent? What was the overall effect, and was there anything that you particularly liked? Perhaps you could try to see what the writer’s intention may have been and assess whether they achieved this, and if not, what you believe they could do to reach that aim.

The feedback you give your peers doesn’t need to be exhaustive, but it should reflect some thoughtfulness. Simply posting a few good thoughts, some explanation – please explain your concerns – and some suggestions on how to improve the writing is enough.

Happy writing,

Alyssa

(Group Facilitator)