The Chief Danger For Writers Learning Their Craft

Writer’s blogs will always have a steady stream of advice on how to improve your writing. I’m not having a go at such advice. I find reading such blog posts to be helpful, and the advice is generally solid.

However, whenever someone tries to improve a particular facet of their writing, they are in grave danger of forgetting the fundamentals of good writing. Well, I’ve found that to be the case with myself, at least.

I don’t think this is an error that only idiots make. I imagine that even the best writers must constantly remind themselves of the fundamentals.

What Are The Fundamentals Of Good Writing?

To answer this question, one must remember what writing is really about. It is about communication. It is about communicating an idea to someone else using words.

It seems so simple and obvious when you state it — and it is — but in the midst of crafting a supposedly masterful sentence, it is easy to lose sight of it.

There are many potential pitfalls:

• You may make your writing “impressive” at the expense of clarity.
• You might assume that because a sentence is clear to you, it’ll be clear to everyone else.
• The meaning you associate with a particular word may be idiosyncratic, when you believe it to be common.

And the list goes on. While the need for clarity in writing is simple to understand, the skill required to communicate clearly is surprisingly high.

How To Avoid The Pitfalls

Ultimately, I don’t think there is a way to permanently avoid these pitfalls. The only solution is constant vigilance. You shouldn’t be able to write a single sentence without questioning the clarity of what you have written.

Clarity is the gold standard of writing. Never forget it.