Clarity, Part 1

In this blog post I will be discussing four topics from the Clarity section of Rules for Writers.

Screenshot from my computer, 9/19/15

Wordy Sentences:

One thing I learned was how dangerous wordy sentences can be. This particular section of the book gives great insight on how to reduce the wordiness of sentences. Something I could definitely improve on is simplifying the sentence structure of my work. I don't have to make every sentence short and simple, but every now and then including a brief sentence would be great for clarity of my writing.


Exact Words:

The section on exact words also spoke to me. I struggle with finding the perfect word to use in my writing on a consistent basis. This is most likely due to my unimpressive vocabulary. I have been using FreeRice.com recently so maybe things will turn around.


Parallelism:

This section also had great ideas about maintaining parallelism in my writing. I usually write my sentences without a lot of planning and as a result, break rules of parallelism often. Specifically my verbs tend to get thrown into non-parallel form in a long and complex sentence. This could easily be remedied with more careful revisions while paying attention to parallel structure.


Emphasis:

I probably have not used a semicolon in 5 years because I never really saw a point. I always preferred to just use two sentences or a comma with a conjunction. This section opened my eyes to using colons and semicolons effectively in order to emphasize certain ideas over others. I'm going to try to implement both types of punctuation where applicable.


Reflection:

While peer reviewing Samantha's and Victoria's QRGs, I learned even more about the importance of clarity and how the previously stated aspects of clarity each play a key role.

While Samantha's draft was very successful overall, one sentence lacked clarity due to poor word choice. "There is an undoubtable need to reform the school system and its goals and methods...", stated Samantha toward the end of her QRG. The word "undoubtable" could be replaced with many other words that would have a far better impact and make the sentence more clear. Words such as "undeniable" or "irrefutable" would have been great.

Victoria's draft was also successful. However, I saw a few instances where Victoria's wordiness compromised the clarity of her work. For example, Victoria wrote "Online fads always come and go so quickly, but he is trying to make the need for organ donors stick in people’s minds just like another tweet or Facebook post their friend might have drawn." I feel like this idea would be more successful if Victoria cut out the last part of the sentence, "just like another tweet or Facebook post their friend might have drawn.". Victoria also could have broken this sentence into multiple sentences in order to make her work more clear. This reinforced the idea that I have to watch out for wordiness in my own writing.