Thursday, May 30, 2019

Writing 101

   As anyone who has studied the subject of writing composition knows, the primary rule is to make your point, state your thesis, back up your premise. I'm not referring to writing fiction, of course, but expository writing. Any high school student should know, whether writing for a class, or for a college entrance or scholarship exam, that the most important element is communicating what you want to say.
   If the writing sample is clouded with inadequate support for your thesis, it will not be conducive to success. If the reason for your writing is to express your knowledge, and your readers have to struggle to wend their way through an accumulation of verbiage to figure out what you want to communicate, that does not sit well with the examiners.  The rationale of the double negative is not the optimal choice to say what you mean. Clarity is key.
   Therefore, Mr. Mueller, I would grade your report as C, bordering on C-. You may know what conclusions you have drawn. But you have, again, left your opus subject to the vagaries of individual interpretation. Or, as you might put it,"it is not without some trepidation that I have rated your writing as less than optimal." Unless you're going for a "Lady or the Tiger" ending, where the dear reader fills in the conclusion of the story, it is your responsibility as a writer to just plain say what you mean.
 

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