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You are here: Home / Writing / Clarity in writing

Clarity in writing

September 30, 2019 By Annette1 7 Comments

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So here I am listening Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, my son’s about to go upstairs and hears the speaker reading about breath.   He turns and asks me “What is this breath they are talking about mom?  Are they in outer space or something?”   I answer him and then he fires off a bunch more questions to me and I realize something.   Either I missed something in this book (which is possible as it’s audio book so back tracking isn’t so easy) OR there has been some lack of clarity.   Just what does one do with breath? 

It got me to thinking about how often that sort of thing happens, this lack of clarity in writing.  We think we are being clear until someone points out that they simply don’t get it.  The point between a and b has gotten missed somewhere.   How do we make sure we are being clear when we write. 

Clarity in Writing

Tips for Clarity

I recently wrote a review that was difficult to write.  Not because I hated the book, in fact I loved it, but I wanted to draw people into wanting to read the book themselves. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to express my enjoyment clearly enough for others.  Taking time to find clarity in thought became important.  Being clear about what I liked and what I learned.  What I appreciated about how the book was laid out.  Thinking about each area and how it impacted me enabled me to be more clear.

Going slowly brings clarity in writing

Sometimes my thoughts come pouring out of me so fast I can rarely keep up.  I was talking to a mom the other day whose son struggles with ADHD.  His thoughts come so fast, faster than he can write, that writing an essay is very difficult for him to.  Even just one paragraph because he simply can’t keep up with the flow of his thoughts.   She’s struggling to find ways to help him slow down, or to at least repeat his work so he can fill in the gaps in his written work.   He needs to figure out how to bring clarity in writing to his readers.

When I struggle with clarity I find myself needing to go back.  To read over my sentences slowly… sometimes in reverse order, just to make sure I don’t miss a pivotal word.   One word can make huge difference in the understanding wrought.

Clarity in Writing

Help from Others

Having others read what you write, especially if you are wondering if you are being clear in your writing is to have someone else read through it.   They can not only point out grammatical issues, but also say “this doesn’t make sense, I don’t understand what this is about, etc”.   My husband has occasionally told me “you’re missing a sentence here”.  

It’s good to have that double-check, to avoid missing those sentences and words, to fix miss-spelled words, and to tighten things up.  

Make Sure you know what you want to say

Lack of clarity can be the result of not having a clear purpose in your mind.  You know how you can start to write a post or an article and part way through your post takes a different direction?  

Stopping to rewrite the beginning of your article is probably your smartest move. It provides a more cohesive article which helps with clarity. 

Reduce the Complexity

Keep it simple.  Sometimes we get caught up in using technical terms when honestly, we could say it much simpler.  Mind the words that you use, aim for clarity in writing as you move forward.

There are other ways to make your writing more clear, you might find my other writing posts helpful or check in with Writers in Charge.

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dawn says

    October 5, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    Great thoughts, I am grateful that my husband is willing to proofread my posts because I can be guilty of reading what I meant to type and not what I actually typed.

    Reply
  2. Tina Von Hatten says

    October 8, 2019 at 12:34 pm

    These are great points. I am going to pin this to read again later.

    Reply
    • Annette1 says

      October 9, 2019 at 1:08 am

      oh thank you Tina! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kristen says

    October 9, 2019 at 11:28 am

    I like the suggestion of going back and rereading it in reverse. Sometimes I find it easier to write things out on paper and then type it up – helps me make sure I am not missing any key points when I go to type it.

    Reply
    • Annette1 says

      October 10, 2019 at 11:42 pm

      oh, that’s a good idea too… to write it out and then rewrite it.

      Reply
  4. Lori says

    October 10, 2019 at 10:08 pm

    Excellent tips! Clarity is so important and you do a great job of illustrating that and giving ideas to help with it. Thanks for the writing lesson today.

    Reply
    • Annette1 says

      October 10, 2019 at 11:41 pm

      thank you. I try to be helpful, and I love when I am able to be. 🙂

      Reply

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