The craft of writing.
Posted by okwuego princely on Sunday, March 18, 2012
Under: writing
As a writer, i just want to point-out some basics for future in-tenders, i mean those who would like to do the same (that is writing). Writing any thing has not been easy any where in the word as a whole, but with the guides am about to give writing will go a long way eased. This article, by name, THE CRAFT OF WRITING, will reveal the principles and also expose the basics of writing good and credible article for reading.
As a reader, how do you picture really experienced writers setting about the job of writing? Do you imaging them setting down with a blank sheet of paper, or a blank word-processor screen and just spilling out words? Do you picture them being visited by inspiration and immediately starting to pour out beautiful and compelling sentences, which are readily to be sent off for publication? It is almost never like that-certainly not with the kind of expository writing you did as a student, where you where trying to develop a carefully constructed argument. Putting well-informed sentence on to paper ready for sending to your tutor is only the last of a series of stage of the process of putting together an essay. Before that a great deal of thinking and preparatory work has to be undertaken.
It is helpful to think of writing as a craft. Picture, for example, the furniture makers setting out to make a table. First he or she has to conceive of a design for the table, then choose the wood, prepare it, measure it, mark it, cut it, shape it, make the joints, and finally put it together. And even then it still has to be smoothed, waxed and polished. Writing essay may not be quite as elaborate a process (or you may not have time to let it be, but it does have some of that quality-requiring you to work methodically through a whole series of closely linked activities. If you simply sit down when you have finished reading this article and try a whole essay in a single sweep, you will get nowhere. The job is too big. You have to break it down into stages. Then you can take it stage by stage and work you way to a finished product.
Of course, you can't expect to master every aspect of writing straight away. At first you just have to get on and do some without worrying too much. However, you will find it very useful to be able to think about the separate stages whenever your writing is not going as well as you would like. The main stages of essay writing are:
1. thinking about the essay title
2. gathering together material for the essay
3. getting some ideal on to paper
4. organizing the material
5. writing a first draft
6. reviewing your work in the light of the essay title
7. writing a final draft.
Writing can be 'expository' which explains, describes objectively, analyses and argues-in contrast with 'expressive' writing (e.g. poetry) which attempts to express feelings and emotions, and 'narrative' writing which tells stories. Another term used is 'discursive' writing. This means much the same thing as expository writing.
As a reader, how do you picture really experienced writers setting about the job of writing? Do you imaging them setting down with a blank sheet of paper, or a blank word-processor screen and just spilling out words? Do you picture them being visited by inspiration and immediately starting to pour out beautiful and compelling sentences, which are readily to be sent off for publication? It is almost never like that-certainly not with the kind of expository writing you did as a student, where you where trying to develop a carefully constructed argument. Putting well-informed sentence on to paper ready for sending to your tutor is only the last of a series of stage of the process of putting together an essay. Before that a great deal of thinking and preparatory work has to be undertaken.
It is helpful to think of writing as a craft. Picture, for example, the furniture makers setting out to make a table. First he or she has to conceive of a design for the table, then choose the wood, prepare it, measure it, mark it, cut it, shape it, make the joints, and finally put it together. And even then it still has to be smoothed, waxed and polished. Writing essay may not be quite as elaborate a process (or you may not have time to let it be, but it does have some of that quality-requiring you to work methodically through a whole series of closely linked activities. If you simply sit down when you have finished reading this article and try a whole essay in a single sweep, you will get nowhere. The job is too big. You have to break it down into stages. Then you can take it stage by stage and work you way to a finished product.
Of course, you can't expect to master every aspect of writing straight away. At first you just have to get on and do some without worrying too much. However, you will find it very useful to be able to think about the separate stages whenever your writing is not going as well as you would like. The main stages of essay writing are:
1. thinking about the essay title
2. gathering together material for the essay
3. getting some ideal on to paper
4. organizing the material
5. writing a first draft
6. reviewing your work in the light of the essay title
7. writing a final draft.
Writing can be 'expository' which explains, describes objectively, analyses and argues-in contrast with 'expressive' writing (e.g. poetry) which attempts to express feelings and emotions, and 'narrative' writing which tells stories. Another term used is 'discursive' writing. This means much the same thing as expository writing.
In : writing