Whats the Secret of Good Writing

Writing is just work, novelist Sinclair Lewis once said. Theres no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes —  its still just work. Maybe so. Yet there must be a secret to good writing —  the kind of writing we enjoy, remember, learn from, and try to imitate. While countless writers have been willing to reveal that secret, only rarely do they seem to agree on what it is. Here are 10 of those not-so-secret revelations about good writing. The secret of all good writing is sound judgment. ... Get the facts in clear perspective and the words will follow naturally. (Horace, Ars Poetica, or The Epistle to the Pisones, 18 BC)The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way. (Attributed to Richard Harding Davis)The secret of good writing is not in the choice of words; it is in the use of words, their combinations, their contrasts, their harmony or opposition, their order of succession, the spirit that animates them. (John Burroughs, Field and Study, Houghton Mifflin, 1919)For a man to write well, there are required three necessaries: to read the best authors, observe the best speakers, and much exercise of his own style. (Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries, 1640)The great secret of writing well is to know thoroughly what one writes about, and not to be affected. (Alexander Pope, quoted by editor A.W. Ward in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, 1873)To fit the powers of thinking a nd the turn of language to the subject, so as to bring out a clear conclusion that shall hit the point in question, and nothing else, is the true criterion of writing. (Thomas Paine, review of Abbà © Raynals Revolution of America, quoted by Moncure Daniel Conway in The Writings of Thomas Paine, 1894)The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning thats already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what--these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. (William Zinsser, On Writing Well, Collins, 2006)Remember gonzo journalist Hunter Thompsons advice that the secret of good writing lies in good notes. Whats on the walls? What kind of windows are there? Whos talking? What are they saying? (Quoted by Julia Cameron in The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life, Tarcher, 1998)The best writing is rewriting. (attributed to E.B. White)[Robert] Southey constantly insisted upon the doctrine, consoling for some authors, that the secret of good writing is to be concise, clear, and pointed, and not to think about your style at all. (Quoted by Leslie Stephens in Studies of a Biographer, Vol. IV, 1907)

Summer Reading List for Teen Boys

Comparative Essay - 1046 Words

Nataly Morales Villa Dr. Pearson English 1101 29 September 2014 Plato’s Allegory and Benjamin Franklin’s Temple of Learning Set in 390 B.C. and 1799, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Benjamin Franklin’s Temple of Learning demonstrate more contrasting than similar ideas on the topic of education. The two literary works are profoundly analyzed by modern society and are part of group discussions throughout school classrooms. Each author has a specific way of getting his point across. The Allegory depicts how a prisoner gained knowledge through his own life experiences while Benjamin Franklin credits Harvard as the only institution where learning can be acquired. Plato emphasizes on giving back to the community, yet Franklin talks of†¦show more content†¦In other words, due to their lack of development, the three prisoners left behind would not be able to grasp the meaning of truth. Their ignorance and stubbornness would continue to blind them regardless of how well they were taught. They would return to the depth s of the cave as soon as the light from the sun hurt their eyes. Their closed minds prevented them from seeing no more than the eternal figurines reflected on the wall they known since birth. Ultimately, Franklin criticizes parents for allowing their â€Å"blockhead†(1) children to enter Harvard without the sufficient capacity. Regardless of how smart their child was, parents sent teenagers to school so they could boast they had social class. As Franklin quoted ,â€Å" most of them consulted their own purses instead of their children’s capacities† (1). The sons of the rich went to college only to pass the time and to polish their personalities. Once there, they only learned the basics in science, math, and literature. Few students spoke even one of the numerous Languages the college offered like Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. When the time came to graduate â€Å"they had learned little more than how to carry themselves handsomely and enter a room genteelly which might as well be acquired at a dancing school† (2). Shamefully, none of the alumni at Harvard valued or had the intelligence to take advantage of the education offered at the Temple of Learn ing. Overall, Plato and Benjamin Franklin establishShow MoreRelated comparative advantage Essay1035 Words   |  5 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The theory of comparative advantage is perhaps the most important concept in international trade theory. As the economies that exist in our world our becoming increasingly more intertwined, it is becoming even more important. Nearly every country in the world depends on other countries to supply them with goods that they cannot produce in their own country. I believe that comparative in necessary in today’s economy. 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Innovatory Devices of Style in Katherine Mansfields Bliss free essay sample

An evaluation of the importance of innovatory devices of style observable in Katherine Mansfields Bliss as an example of Modernist literature. This essay explores and evaluates Katherine Mansfields literary style with reference to her short story Bliss. It discusses the ways in which Bliss demonstrates her desire to break with the past and experiment with new methods of writing. The paper evaluates the story as an example of Modernist literature and reviews Mansfields importance in the Modernist movement. The paper also provides a detailed analysis of Mansfields original and distinctive delivery of the short story. `An important figure in the modernist movement, Katherine Mansfield was a highly experiential writer who sought to find new ways of representing the world. The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of terrific change due to technological advances, scientific theories and capitalism. The First World War compounded this disturbance and literally shattered the universal values which held society together. We will write a custom essay sample on Innovatory Devices of Style in Katherine Mansfields Bliss or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Society was left fragmented and disillusioned and the Modernists felt that the traditional mode of representing the world in literature, specifically realism, was outdated and no longer appropriate. Mansfields short story Bliss, 1918, demonstrates the desire to break with the past and experiment with new methods of writing which would express this transformed society more aptly.`