EFFECTIVE WRITING

One of the first words I pounced on when learning to become a newspaper journalist (many-many moons ago) was succinct. I know it sounds like someone sucking on a sink, but it actually means to be brief, concise or to maintain verbal or written brevity.

Our Journalism professor noted that in the newspaper industry - unlike novel writing - events must be expressed in as few words as possible. He also emphasized that a journalist must use words that the general public could readily understand and easily identify with, and never try to impress people with one's knowledge or usage of the English language.

I try to use words to which my reading public can relate, however, I often find that some of my peers go out of their way to break this simple rule, especially those peers who have reached the big time. By 'big time' I mean they now write for the New York Times or Washington Post or have become syndicated columnists, so forth and so on.

Not long ago I read daily articles written by three nationally known columnists; I underlined those words that I thought were well beyond normal usage.

Some of the words I highlighted were; sylleptic (a grammatical error); symbiont (living in a state of symbiosis); thersitical (foul mouthed); rubrical (reddish); obliquitous (indirect); accumbent (reclining); plebiscitary (relating to a vote); salacious (lustful); egregious (distinguished), and at least a dozen more, many of which I had to look up in Mister Webster's fine dictionary in order to understand them.

When reading an article and I come to a ten-dollar word, I ask myself why the author used it? When I stumble over a hundred-dollar word, I know the writer is trying to impress someone or else they may possibly use English as a second language.

Then again, as an editor friend pointed out, perhaps these people are simply being succinct. Perhaps they are using one word to replace a score of other words; hence they are abiding by the simple rule of brevity. As far as I am concerned, they can suck the sink all they want, but their readers may soon go to an easier to read writer.

English is already a difficult language to express, both in writing and speaking, so why make it harder by throwing in words that ninety-nine percent of the people don't use or cannot understand?

My rule of thumb has always been, If you would not normally use the word when talking to someone, do not use it when writing.

Written communication is no different than oral communication in how it is accepted by the general public. A silver-tongued orator certainly sounds better than a stuttering bumpkin, and in my opinion, a down to earth writer knows that his/her average reading audience didn't get a degree in English.

Well-written prose should be smooth and appear to flow like poetry. No need to interject hard to understand or difficult to pronounce words. Juicy adjectives are good so long as they are not overused. Also, keep in mind that some stories and poetry posted in haste have yet to be edited.

I've always abided by the principal that, it's not the words you choose to use, it's how you use the words you choose.

This item is in response to an email I received from an aspiring WDC writer who asked me what techniques I would recommend on writing and reviewing. She also asked about receiving bad reviews.

I told her that, to prove a point on one occasion - when I was with another writing group - I took a long passage from one of my favorite writers, John Steinbeck, and posted it as my own for group review. Several of the club members tore the writing to pieces, even calling it pure trash. When I told them that it was a passage from "The Grapes of Wrath," their mouths literally dropped. So, take reviews with a grain of salt. Some people get pleasure out of tearing other writers down if they don't fit their preconceived standards, idea of writing style, or if they are simply jealous of that writer's ability.

Constructive criticism is good, but you must always limit it to that. Never degrade another writer's efforts to the point that you instill in them the desire to give up on their dream of being a writer. They may be a very poor writer, but telling them that hurts you as much as it does them. One person's writing style may not be your preferred style and never compare a writer on this site with professional writers, unless of course, they are.

I can tell from the character and content of her email that she has a distinguished future ahead of her as a writer. Keep up the good work and write on! (Smoothly)

When writing for the journalistic field, remember; who, what, where, when, why, and how. When writing for fun (and profit), always remember your five senses; sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and the longest word in the dictionary...if!

Dream and write...