Principles (Elements) of Effective Writing

1.                      Elements of Effective Writing

There are so many people in the world who engage themselves in writing. Some of them do so as a professional requirement while others as a hobby. It is common knowledge that all of them are not equally successful in their job. Those who excel do so because they follow certain rules of the game. There are some elementary rules which every writer has to follow if he wants to make his writing effective. Even born writers have to follow these principles. It is another matter that they come to them naturally without having to labour much. Writing is an art which has to be cultivated and practised to achieve perfection.

Writing is an important part of the duties to be performed by people working in business organisations, especially those occupying senior positions. Different kinds of reports, presentations and a variety of other documents have to be drafted regularly as part of their assignments. They can do these assignments successfully if they follow the following rules:

1.    A clear understanding of the purpose -The first requirement is to have a clear understanding of the purpose of writing. A good writer never loses sight of his purpose. Every word, every sentence every paragraph in the written document must be focused on the purpose and contribute to its achievement.

2.    Unity of theme - Unity of theme is another requirement. There must be one important central idea round which the whole piece revolves. And it must be sufficiently limited to have any meaningful discussion. Any treatment of too broad an idea can confuse the reader. The central idea should be clearly stated in the opening paragraph. This statement should give the reader an idea of the line that the author is going to follow in the rest of the piece.

  There are bound to be some subordinate ideas but they must contribute to the development of the central idea. Any writing in which several unconnected ideas are presented without there being any unifying connection among them is bound to result in chaos. The reader fails to comprehend what the writer wants to say in the absence of any unifying thread.

3.    Logical organisation - 

i.                   All the material in the document should be logically and systematically organised. The piece should be divided into three broad parts – the beginning, the middle and the end. The beginning should introduce the topic and explain its meaning and importance. The middle should be devoted to the discussion of the topic. It should contain the details of the subject, the arguments, the examples, the causes, the remedies suggested, the evidence etc.  The ending should contain the conclusions and the recommendations.

ii.                 The material should be clearly classified into different classes. All the matter pertaining to one class should be given at one place. There should be no mixing up of the different classes of information as it can lead to confusion.

iii.              The main ideas contributing to the development of the central theme should be dealt with in different paragraphs. The main idea should be stated in the topic sentence of the paragraph and should then be followed by the supporting sub-ideas. There should be no jumbling of the main ideas and the sub-ideas.

iv.              There are different ways of arranging the information provided and the choice depends on the nature of the topic. It may be arranged chronologically or as cause and effect or as problem, causes, solutions or idea, arguments for and against followed by conclusions or in the increasing or decreasing order of importance. Any unsystematic and illogical presentation of information will confuse the reader instead of enlightening him.

4.    Sufficient supporting material – The supporting material is the soul of any piece of writing. The author must provide sufficient supporting material to justify his line of thought. There must be sufficient arguments, examples, statistics, quotations etc. to illustrate the writer’s thesis, to convince the reader of the correctness of his ideas or to persuade the reader to accept his line of argument. Without enough supporting material, any piece of writing is like a body without a soul.

Moreover, the supporting material should be completely relevant, detailed, specific, clear and convincing. It is no use beating about the bush. Every detail of the supporting material should be like a blow on the head of the nail and have the force to drive home the main idea.

5.    Audience oriented – To be effective, any piece of writing should be audience oriented. The author must have a clear understanding of the educational and intellectual level and the needs and interests of the audience for which he is writing. The ideas and the information provided must also match their needs and interests and the language used should be such as they can easily understand.

6.    Coherence – It is necessary to link the different parts of a piece of writing with one another clearly and to show the links. Appropriate linking devices should be used to refer back and forward. Each sentence in a paragraph should be connected with the preceding and the succeeding one. Similarly, every paragraph should have a clear connection with the previous and following paragraph. The entire document should give the impression of being one unified piece rather than a rambling collection of ideas.

7.    Transitions – All transitions – from one idea to another, from one class of information to another, from one part to another should be natural and spontaneous. They should be suitably signalled i.e. you must tell the reader that you are now moving from one part to another so that they do not come to the reader as a shock.

8.    Variety – Variety is the sauce of writing and makes it enjoyable. It is advisable to vary the length of paragraphs, the type of sentences, tenses and of voice. Similarly, you may also use a different word sometimes to convey the same idea instead of repeatedly using the same word because it sounds boring.

9.    Humour – Humour again is an ingredient that makes your writing interesting and enjoyable. It is always good to sprinkle your writing with bits and pieces of humour to keep your reader amused as he is being enlightened. It helps to hold his attention longer, and prevents him from feeling exhausted.

10.          Language –

I - Appropriate to the type of writing - The language used should be appropriate to the kind of writing. In technical writing, the best thing would be to use simple, clear and specific language. However, in literary writing, ornamental idiomatic language embellished with figures of speech and appropriate imagery should be used.

Ii - The choice of words must be proper and accurate enough to convey the intended meaning. The use of even one inappropriate word can spoil the whole show. Cliches should be avoided. If you are writing for an audience belonging to the same technical field, you may use the jargon belonging to that field. If the audience is a general one, jargon should be strictly avoided.

Iii - Conciseness – You should make every effort to avoid all unnecessary wordiness. The best thing is to say what you want to say in as few words as possible. The reader gets lost in the maze of wordiness and loses sight of the essential argument being presented. As a result, he loses interest and stops reading.

iv - Freedom from ambiguity – The language should be clear and easy to understand. It should not lend itself to multiple interpretations. Otherwise, the reader is likely to get confused and will be unable to make head or tail of what he reads.

v - Spelling, grammar and punctuation –

I - Care must also be taken that you use the correct spelling. If you write ‘power breaks’ instead of ‘power brakes’, the reader will find it hard to follow what you want to say. Even a slight difference in spelling can mislead and confuse the writer.

II - You must also follow the generally accepted rules of grammar and syntax. A departure from these rules can lead the reader astray and make him put a different interpretation on the writing from the one intended by you. Rules regarding noun/pronoun agreement, subject verb agreement must be followed strictly. You must also be careful about using the correct tense forms, correct voice, correct case of pronouns and correct possessive forms.

Iii - It is also important to use correct punctuation because wrong punctuation can sometimes change the meaning and thus mislead the reader.