Good Writing: Strong Arguments Backed by Clarity and Concision

Good Writing: Strong Arguments Backed by Clarity and Concision

Writing is a complicated process of brainstorming, writing, rewriting, and editing that people spend years trying to perfect, one that I have yet to perfect.  A good writer reviews previous pieces and learns from their mistakes; this is what I am trying to do. Using my fall, winter, and spring journals, along my previous essays, I’m trying to improve my own writing while potentially helping others improve their own writing. The mistakes of one writer are lessons for other writers, this is shown through the improvement of previous works. Good writing consists of a strong argument that is backed up by clear concise sentences and ideas.

Good writing requires many things, one of those things being a strong argument. Writing is not just summary and random facts; writing is a way of getting a point across, challenging points, and raising questions. Weak arguments do not raise questions, and summary raises nothing at all. The topic sentence sets the tone of an essay, and starting and essay with a weak topic sentence like,  “In the title of her article, Christina Cauterucci asks the question, “Why are we always asking rich famous ladies if they are feminists?’” (Marchin, Marchin Winter Journal), will not captivate readers. A topic sentence should make a claim. This topic sentence just states indisputable information. If the topic sentence does introduce a strong argument, how can the essay make a strong argument. Another example of a weak argument comes from a journal entry about Anne Lamotte’s writing style.The journal entry concluded with, “Lamotte's writing is relatable and her diction makes her essays easy to read and inviting” (Marchin, Marchin Fall Journal). Stating that an author’s writing is relatable and easy to read is not a strong argument; it is a simple statement. I didn’t challenge any ideas, raise any questions, or cause a little controversy; I just made a simple statement. Good writing includes thought provoking arguments, not simple statements.

While making a strong argument is important, it is not the only part to good writing; clarity and concision are also key factors.  A good argument will reel the reader in, but long, wordy sentences may cause lost of interest, and if the reader can’t understand what you’re saying, how can they understand your argument?  In an essay comparing the significance of individual lives and the significance of the sun, I began with, “Every day the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, regardless of the day’s events or the importance on an individual, familial, community, country, continental, or worldly scale” (Marchin, Macbeth Essay). This sentence contains six adjectives describing one word. Ending the sentence with “events or importance,” removes all six adjectives and says the same thing; this saves the reader the hassle of analyzing each adjective and allows them to focus on the main idea of the essay. When a sentence is written like this: “Lady Macbeth is greedy and manipulative, and while watching this television production of Macbeth, a man might think of his wife when he watches Lady Macbeth” (Marchin, Marchin Winter Journal), it is not easy to understand. A better way to write this sentence would be “A man watching this television production might think of his wife while he is watching Lady Macbeth’s greedy and manipulative character.” In this sentence it is clear who is doing which action. The man is watching the television production, Lady Macbeth is not watching the television production. Small differences in word placement create large differences in meaning. If the content of a sentence is unknown, the argument is not being made efficiently. Any unnecessary phrases and words can weaken and take away from the overall argument of a piece of writing. Concision and clarity are key when trying to keep an audience captivated.

Writing is a key component to communication, expression, and learning; without it humanity would be lost. Because writing is essential to our lives, good writing is an important part of life. Good writing consists many things, but three crucial parts of good writing are strong arguments, concision, and clarity. A strong argument captivates readers, and concision and clarity sustain the reader’s interest. If the goal of a piece of writing is to be read, then these factors are necessary. And in reality, the only time a piece of writing is not supposed to be read, is your diary. Write as poorly as you want in your diary, because frankly, no one cares.

For more tips on good writing click here.