veryone would probably agree unilaterally that writing is an artform. There is plenty of writing that everyone and their grandma can confidently say is art– Lord of the Rings, Metamorphosis, the Bible, I mean, there’s an endless supply of art in the form of novels and other writing. This conception of the artform is beautiful but it is, unfortunately, restrictive. Because, when people relegate textual art to fiction they specifically don’t see a lot of other writing as being an artform. Because writing is hard! And this is what leads to emails or writing otherwise that just kind of sucks. You know it when you see it, documents that are actively hard to read or emails where you read a long spiel and only realize afterwards you didn’t actually gain anything from it.
The truth is, all writing in any form deserves thought and purpose, not just novels. The issue is that a lot of people do not see it this way and that leads to poor writing. The solution to becoming a better writer is not necessarily to look at all writing as high art, but to put forethought and purpose into everything you write. Among many other things, of course, here are an array of tips that may make you a better writer.
#1: Purpose
The best thing you can do when you write is to make sure you know what you are writing. It may seem like you know what you are writing before you start, but always make sure to interrogate that thought before you find out it was not a plan, and in fact it was a hollow shell of an idea. People will often begin writing something, knowing about some vague goal in the writing of it, and only then after realizing that they did not have very much at all. Usually, Purpose is not in question because the grand majority of things you write on a daily basis won’t be so complicated that you cannot state its purpose in a single sentence.
If you need to send an email clarifying a time or asking a simple question, for example, that’s easy. But if you are writing a paper for school or you need to genuinely justify something you have said, then Purpose is king. Don’t just have an idea, know exactly what your point is. If someone were to ask you what your point is you should be able to tell them with clarity.
In fact, if you have the ability, go and ask someone to ask you what the point of your writing is going to be. Think about it for a second, and then tell them. They should understand what you mean. If they do, then you have a Purpose.
#2: Forethought
Once you have a purpose, the second thing you can do is plan ahead. There are multiple versions of planning ahead, whether you just map it out in your head or make a bullet point list of all your big ideas or write a full-blown outline of each section you plan to write, you should be planning what you are writing before you begin. If you don’t, it isn’t hard to find yourself lost midway through writing something. If you discover your main point 200 or 300 or 500 words in, it’ll take significantly longer to go back and rewrite everything or else run the risk of making very little sense.
For example, if you are writing an essay, your life will be infinitely easier if you map out the basic beats of each section.
#3: Consider the Reader
When you write, it can be incredibly easy to fall into the trap of accidentally being nonsensical because you failed to consider the reader’s perspective. The reader inherently is occupying a different perspective than you; notably that they have no idea what you are thinking or feeling. From your perspective, a sentence might make perfect sense given the context of your thoughts and experiences. However, your reader will not have those experiences and they will not understand.
Think about it like this: Your writing is a secondary expression of your pure thoughts, and it is those thoughts that are important. You need to translate those thoughts into words, and then your reader needs to translate those words into a new meaning that hopefully is close enough to your thoughts that your message gets across. The issue is that your thoughts and your readers' thoughts are fundamentally different. There is an art to translating across that boundary, and most of it simply relies on clear communication in which you explain your points in a simple yet comprehensible way.
#4: Methods of Persuasion
Lastly, there are a set of ideas that you can use with which to write more effectively, keeping all the previous points in mind. These ideas are three methods of persuasion, and they are called ethos, pathos, and logos.
Logos is perhaps the most simple; the appeal to logic. You know the point you mean to make, and you understand why it is true. In your writing, which may not be explicitly persuasive but still consists of you attempting to make a point to your audience, showing them the logical path you took to arrive at your noted conclusion is simple and effective. In line with considering your reader, explaining your logic can often help cross the gap between minds through writing.
Pathos is the appeal to emotion. Where logic might fail, pointing out emotional weak points to make the reader feel a certain way is a powerful tool. Try pointing out the ramifications of your idea or any greater impact it may have to inspire emotion in your readers.
Lastly, ethos is the appeal to authority or credibility. Ethos is the crux of everything written here so far. Now, authority does not necessarily mean authority as in objective rank or status, but authority as in your confidence as a writer. People are more likely to trust your words if you seem confident and competent in your writing. This is why writing well is so important. When you read something that sounds bad, you don’t wanna read the rest of it only because it sucks, and that discredits it. Even if the writing is good, a poor ethos can be fatal.
Keeping these points in mind while you prepare to write and edit your work will no doubt help you make your writing better. Notice how not many of these points are hard changes, but soft suggestions. You are smart, whether you believe it or not. Good writing is about skill and practice, yes, but being aware and active can help you nearly as much.
If you want a good collection of related tips about writing, speaking, and persuasion, check out this article about persuasive speeches. And because reading and writing are so intertwined, here is a guide to becoming a better reader.
