Easy reading is damned hard writing.
(Nathaniel Hawthorne)
(Please excuse the curse word. It may indicate Hawthorne’s frustration with the work necessary to produce good writing, or it may indicate the strength with which Hawthorne believes this.)
The point of this quote is that clear, easy-to-read writing is not easy to produce. Instead, it is the result of writing, analyzing what you write, and re-writing—perhaps many times.
When you write, you are attempting to communicate. The more work you put into writing, the better you will be able to communicate. Hard work by you leads to easy understanding by your reader.
People have told me, “Writing is so easy for you.” This isn’t true. I have practiced writing, studied writing, and analyzed what makes writing clear. The documents they read are the result of much work: writing, criticizing, and rewriting until they are “easy reading.” That’s what great writers aim for: not easy writing but easy reading.
This is the strategy for day 110 in 300 Days of Better Writing, available at Hostile Editing in PDF, Kindle, and paperback formats.
For a sample of 300 Days of Better Writing and other books by Precise Edit, download the free ebook.
Reminds me of my favourite writing quote from Ernest Hemmingway
‘There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’
Sometimes I can really see where Hemmingway and Hawthorne are coming from…
Comment by Monkey's Blood — March 5, 2013 @ 12:10 pm |