Quality Writing Begins With Clarity
By: Renata Gomes
Tags: Creativity, Self, Productivity, Writing, Writing Tips

Quality Writing Begins With Clarity

Everything else is just extra sauce.

Clarity may seem like a principle that’s so basic it’s barely worthy of notice, nothing to worry too much about. The first thing that comes to mind when we thing of great writing, after all, is hardly ever clarity.

When we think of great writing, we think of unique ideas, a strong voice and a fine-tuned sense of pace. That’s what the world’s most successful writers are known for, not for something as basic as clarity.

But in reality, every great writer had to first master how to write with enough clarity before they could build their other, more flashy skills on top of that foundation. It’s only after having mastered clarity that writers can dare to take risks with their craft — and succeed by taking such risks.

Being bold in your writing once you’ve mastered clarity can lead to brilliant results, while attempting the same things before you’ve mastered clarity can lead to a series of disasters.

Picasso famously mastered classic painting techniques before he ventured into developing works in cubism, surrealism, and other daring expressions of his craft. Had he started out trying to convey the human form through geographic shapes, things might not have worked out as they did. It was his skill with the fundamentals of classic painting, light and shade, shape, volume, etc, that later made him capable of abstracting so well.

It’s also not surprising that so many reporters and journalists become famous authors, not only because of their passion for writing, but because working as a journalist is great practice for conveying an idea as clearly and effectively as possible.

The essence of writing is to convey a message, and without clarity, that becomes impossible. Clarity is therefore the basic ingredient of any writing recipe, everything else is the extra sauce that gives it flavor.

Practicing clarity may require you to use simpler words, direct order and short sentences. It may seem boring and uninspired at first, but it beats losing readers halfway through the first paragraph because they can’t make sense of what you’re trying to say.

It may seem boring at first, but once you’ve mastered it, you can start adding your sauce, little by little. Spice up your writing too soon, and you’ll end up with an inedible dish.

Too many writers make the mistake of worrying about every other element of the craft before they have learned how to communicate an idea effectively. They worry too much about writing in a distinguishable style, one that’s just theirs, and no one else can possibly imitate.

They put emphasis on voice, extra effort on writing in a certain tone, and on making sure their piece is paced just right right — but they forget to first evaluate if they’re making a clear point.

In an attempt to make their writing sound beautiful, they fish for unusual words and pair them together in the hopes they’ll convey the message, even though they themselves are not sure is does. They prize convoluted sentences, indirect order and adjectives. Tons of adjectives.

And the result is a piece without a clear message, a piece that is empty of content, or that contradicts itself about halfway through, confusing the reader and causing him to give up on the piece.

That’s the risk you take whenever you underestimated the value of clarity.

Understanding that clarity is the first marker of quality writing, however, will allow you to build a solid foundation in which to eventually add extra, more daring elements that will set you apart as a writer.