: It's a common theme in writing today to make it dull and boring, as long sentences are praised and complicated, sesquipedalian words are placed on a lofty pedestal. Detaching all sense of
It's a common theme in writing today to make it dull and boring, as long sentences are praised and complicated, sesquipedalian words are placed on a lofty pedestal. Detaching all sense of self or identity from the writing is presupposed to lead to the development of good writing, the falsity of which is clearly attested to by this very sentence, which anyone reading would undoubtedly get bored of.
That being said, I think the most important thing is to not filter your thoughts. Just write them down as they come. Imagine that you'll be the only one reading it. Later you can adjust for political correctness / thoroughness. Example:
Thought: "I think the king's policies were ridiculous. How could he possibly think of continuing to raise taxes when his peasants were starving?"
Censor: Hmm, now how to phrase this?
Filtered thought: "In my opinion, the king's policies were not optimal. It is difficult to understand why he continued to raise taxes when the people did not have enough money for food."
Censor: Alright, well that has to be spruced up a bit to sound better / more intellectual.
Final result: "In my opinion, the king's policies were not optimal for the benefit of his people. The continual raising of the tax rate at a time when the population was struggling to provide the bare necessities of life caused them great difficulties.
Now you've taken an outspoken statement that clearly shows your views, doubled its length, and made it much less exciting to read. I'm not saying the original thought was ideal, but it was closer to the desired end result. In that way you'll put yourself more into your writing.
Besides that, general tips:
Use germanic words as opposed to Latin ones. Makes it sound better / more "emotional" in English.
Don't use passive constructions.
Really simple sentences are boring ("The cow went moo. It was happy.") but overly complicated ones are boring and clunky. Find a nice middle ground.
I strongly recommend reading the essay Politics and the English Language, by George Orwell. It covers these points and more.
Show, don't tell. You don't say "It was greatly satisfying to complete the project." You say "I finished the last edits, submitted the project, then just laid back in my chair with a sense of ease and relaxation."
More posts by @Shelley992
: Publishing for Kindle I am very keen to get into writing, and have come up with several outline plots for short stories, novels and even trilogies. However, one hurdle, which I expect is not
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