To me, the mark of a good writer is that he (or she) is able to get across to the reader what he (or she) intends to get across to the reader. That may be ideas, concepts, mental images, or some sort of emotional response (among other possibilities). In examining the feedback I've received over the time that I've been blogging, I find that I'm not, by my own definition, a good writer.
One recurring comment that I've had from multiple sources, even very friendly sources, is that I'm pretty hard to read. I'm apparently talking at a level above the average reader. It's too intellectual. There are too many big words. Now, on one level I know about this. I sometimes use big words intentionally, and then I try to explain them. You know, a little education isn't a bad thing, right? On the other hand, it's apparent that my explanations aren't working, so my attempt at a little education isn't doing any good, is it? (Rhetorical question.) So it seems that, while I know what I'm saying and I hear it as the same way I talk every day, apparently it's not clear to a large number of readers.
The other thing of which I'm quite sure is that my personality doesn't exactly come out in what I write. Here's the truth. When I write, I am almost always amused. I am writing about something that is interesting to me. I generally have a smile in my head, so to speak. On the other hand, I am absolutely certain that when my readers read my stuff, they don't receive that smile. Most of what they see is more akin to the proverbial nun ready to smack your knuckles with a ruler. I write with humor in my head, but I am perceived as a curmudgeon, "a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man" (according to the dictionary). I try to sprinkle hints that I'm having fun when I write, but they appear to be too vague, to confusing, too few and far between.
Clearly, then, I'm not the writer I want to be. I want to get across the truth without beating you over the head with it. I want to share with you my light sense of fun as I write, not some "it's clobberin' time" approach. I want you to understand what I'm saying, not dazzle you with some self-perceived brilliance. I want to say what I want to say clearly and concisely and with a little humor. I'm not doing that. How do I fix that? Your feedback has been helpful thus far. How about some suggestions here to make me a better writer?
10 comments:
Well, I personally, have never seen you as a nun :)
You are right, the smile doesn't easily come across. We just had an incident on another forum (no, I wasn't involved) where someone made what they intended as a joke, and it was taken badly by others on the forum.
Jokes can go badly in person too, but I don't think this one would have.
Perhaps that's why I'm a better teacher in person than on a blog?
Sometimes I wonder about this whole Internet phenomenon and who originated it.
Stanley,
You are a rocky garden. Solid and beautiful. You keep writing and using those big words. I love your writing and I love your jokes.
When you get done writing something, ask God if He is pleased, because He is the only one that matters, He is the only one who knows who He wants reached by your writing. That is all that counts when all is said and done.
hugs
gb
Stan,
I love the way you write as is. Yes, it is intellectual, but I enjoy that. I enjoy the theological and doctrinal commentary. I think you come across pretty much as you want to. Please don't change how you write. :)
Stuart
I agree about the internet thing. The blog that I read before and after I met you in person are so different. This fact has really amazed me.
Dan, you've given me the solution! All I have to do is go out and spend a little time with each and every reader! So easy! :)
Stan, you are an excellent writer. I agree with Stuart and hope that you don't change a thing! If what you write is sometimes too "intellectual" for some, maybe God wants them to be stretched a bit. Occasional complaints about "big" words? They can be looked up without even moving from one's seat. You are being used by God, Stan. Your blog postings are good for the maturing of the body of Christ, providing us "meaty" issues to consider and valuable truths to apply when there is so much watered down "milk" out there. I think you are VERY concisely conveying your ideas, concepts, and images. And your occasional "asides" and parenthetical comments reveal your sense of humor just fine! I don't think a lot of us find you "hard to read" at all. You seem very "down to earth" and approachable, like you are just spending some friendly as well as very thought-provoking time conversing with your readers. In my book, there are no changes needed at all! Blog on, Brother! :o)
Stuart, Sherry, thanks for the encouragement. I suppose there is a "target audience" out there, some who get it and some who don't, a "comfort range" as it were. I still like Danny's idea. It would be nice to get to know some of the people who read my blog.
Hi Stan,
I just saw this post today, so I thought I'd add to the mix. The comment got ridiculously long...sorry about that, but you'll see why if you want to take the time to read on. In any case, thanks for the exercise.
For a moment, when you asked for feedback, I got into "Writing Center" mode. Since you probably don't know what that means, I'll explain. For four years, my job was working with college students in one-on-one consultations to improve their writing skills. It was a great job; I loved it, and I miss it! I was also working on a degree in English, intending to pursue a PhD in English with an emphasis on Composition and Pedagogy (fancy word for teaching, for anyone who didn't know). I have since been a bit disillusioned with this whole system of academe and for a variety of other reasons as well, I quit grad school and am working as a tech writer, blogging when I can because tech writing is one of the most boring types of writing I can think of. In light of that background, this blog post has really stirred up all my old interest in thinking about writing, why people do it, how it works, why it works, how you know it works, and how to teach other people how to do it.
One wall I kept running into with my work and my studies is that defining "good" writing is subjective and difficult. Maybe that means it's more about the audience than the writing itself, i.e. it depends on who's reading, how they respond to it, what their background is, etc. Maybe it also depends on genre and venue. Still, most people can agree on a few essentials that make good writing good that usually apply across the board. Here are just a few off the top of my head:
-unity (not getting off on rambles that distract from the point)
-a balance between abstract ideas and concrete illustrations of them
-some kind of structure that drives the reader through a piece rather than making them search for how the pieces work together
-clarity on the sentence level (getting rid of wordiness and clutter, not implanting too many clauses into one complicated sentence)
-some way of investing the reader in what you have to say
The problem is, even if every reader you have agrees with some "rubric" of deciding whether or not this is good writing, they still may disagree on their assessment. For example, somebody may say "he does a great job of pulling his readers in" while somebody else doesn't feel the least bit pulled in. Even matters of sentence structure, which you'd think would be more objective, may result in different opinions as someone might think your style is very clear and someone else wouldn't. At times when I worked in the Writing Center at UAH, I had those students whose papers technically did all they should do; they met the global requirements (unity, clear structure, examples, etc.) and the local requirements (no mistakes with grammar, spelling, etc.) but their was just something missing...the voice wasn't confident or it just wasn't interesting or...something. Those were difficult consultations; in my gut, I sensed it wasn't a great paper compared to professional papers I'd read or even compared to the papers my colleagues and I wrote, but I had no idea how to put my finger on what was wrong or give any advice on what to do about it.
Such is the chaos that is writing and composition studies...nobody knows the answers, so try not to be discouraged!
As far as my own personal opinion about your writing...for some reason or other, yours was one of the first blogs I found when I started blogging myself, and I have followed you every since. Obviously, I don't know if I would respond to them differently if I knew you better or in person, but as is, I enjoy reading your blog. It gives me insight, some good points to think about, and more background info for dealing with questions I've already had. There are so many blogs out there; it's mind boggling. Many of them are not "meaty" to use Sherry's word, and many of them are so similar that I sometimes wonder why we all keep adding to the noise. But, out of the blogs I follow, I know where I can go for what kind of writing whether it be an intellectual discussion, a careful close reading of Scripture, a personal story of struggling and running this race God is asking us to run, a short piece of light encouragement, a spiritual challenge, etc. The blogs I go back to have found their niche in my daily meals of spiritual food, and yours definitely has its place. I read your posts, think about them, and often regurgitate them in conversations through the week. I agree with Sherry that you tackle some weighty issues that need to be engaged by Christians, and I have never felt lost or intellectually taxed by your writing (intellectually stimulated perhaps but not taxed in the sense of having to work and reread to attempt to make sense of what you're saying).
As I continue my journey as a student (no longer in the official sense, but I am definitely a student of God), I grow more and more aware of the powerlessness of people. Effective communication is difficult in any scenario, and the ability to communicate something so that our readers understand and actually revise their thinking or their acting is even more of a stretch. Only God’s grace can truly lend effectiveness to any of our efforts be they writing or whatever. One of my professors once said, “If these books don’t bump you out of your box, there’s no point in reading them.” I love that idea, but more often than not, if we agree that assessment, there’s no point in doing much of the reading we do. We stubborn humans read books and blogs and whatnot, sometimes really searching but sometimes just looking for time filler or entertainment; we may feel a tug at our heartstrings or a flash of enlightenment in our minds; we may nod or leave comments or think “that’s such a good point”; and then we go on with our lives, not really changing our attitude or viewpoint or behavior. Communicating the truth is only half the battle; applying it is the other half. I’ve come to believe that only when God’s Spirit of Truth speaks through our writing will people really be bumped out of their box, believe it, and apply it. It’s all up to Him, but I think if we seek His guidance, we can be His tools if He needs to teach or encourage His people.
If you’re still reading, thanks! This was a fun exercise for me. What you said about smiling in your mind as you write...I definitely had that feeling as I wrote this comment...wonder how that came across...
God bless you, brother.
Actually, Ruth, I read it all. Thanks for the feedback. Very true that much of "good writing", like "beauty", is in the eye of the beholder (the reader). (Attempting a short response to your long comment.) :)
For anyone who is still around reading this post and its comments, I thought I should point out that this is not one of those posts (I know ... I've had others that were) where I'm disappointed and disillusioned and wondering "Should I go on?" or any such thing. This one was more at "I'd like to improve if I can. How can I?" So ... not to worry. I'm not discouraged ... at least not in this post. :)
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