As I announced last week, I’m starting an occasional series on writing well. Many thanks to all who have provided some great responses to my requests for topic suggestions.
After thinking through your many helpful suggestions, I’ve decided to organize upcoming posts according to what I’ve identified as five pillars of good writing: clarity, brevity, vitality, elegance, and style.
Clarity: The primary things that undergird clear writing are clear thinking, organization, and good grammar.
Brevity: Brevity means making sure that every word matters.
Vitality: Vital writing relies on vivid words, especially verbs, and fresh figures of speech.
Elegance: Elegant writing has a rhythm. The premier tools of elegance are parallelism and modifiers that provide emphasis.
Style: Style is personal, and lets the writer’s personality shine through his mastery of the basics of good writing.
Please continue to request topics and ask questions. I hope you find this series helpful.
For two decades, I worked at political jobs. Then my parents got sick, and I went home to help care for them, and they died, fourteen weeks apart, in their late 60s. And I decided that life is too dear, and too uncertain, to fritter away in political offices. I fought back the sorrow with travel, and started this blog. I believe that passions are more fun when you share them with others, and my hope is to share my passions for travel and culture with you. Welcome! Read more …