Style: 10 Lessons in Clarity and Grace: Joseph Williams What does it mean to write with style?

“Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of In Lesson 1 Williams quotes Sir Arthur Quiller Couch who said: “Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of endeavoring to understand others, of thinking for them rather than yourself—or thinking that is with the heart as well as the head.”

Thinking with the What exactly does that mean? Flowery words and curlicues? Floods of emotion Sharing your life story in a job application letter? Whining in a complaint letter?

How do people react when they experience something that is socially unacceptable? Look at this example sentence: An understanding of the causal factors involved in excessive drinking by students could lead to their more effective treatment. Isn’t it wordy? Williams calls it a language of exclusion. Look at this revision: We could treat students more effectively if we understand why they drink excessively.

But of course not everyone does. Or has… Williams says his book relies on two principles: It is good to write clearly Anyone can But of course not everyone does. Or has… It was not until the mid 1500s that people wrote formal documents in English rather than in French or Latin.

The first academic writing in English sounded stuffy and overly complex. In the mid 1600s scientific writing appeared in English and guess what it sounded like? Clear writing actually helped ignite the American revolution. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, for instance, is often credited with inspiring American democracy. “ In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and common sense” (4).

Dense, overly complex language is still with us, even among scholars who should know better. Recognition of the fact that systems of [grammar] differ from one language to another can serve as the basis for serious consideration of the problems confronting translators of the great works of world literature written in a language other than English.” Here are the edits according to Williams: When we recognize that languages have different grammars we can consider the problems of those who translate the great works of literature.”

What are some private causes of unclear writing? Williams mentions Michael Crichton’s complaint that those who embellish prose are people “who confuse a difficult style with deep thinking.” Others lack clarity and grace in their writing because they are afraid of making mistakes. He says these writers approach a blank page as though they were walking on a “minefield.”

Other writer’s “freeze up.” --especially when they begin to write academic prose. According to Williams this group includes students as well as professionals—”anyone writing on a new topic for unfamiliar and therefore intimidating readers.” He explains that: As we struggle to master new and complex ideas, most of us write worse than we do when we write about things we understand better. If that sounds like you, take heart. You will write more clearly once you understand more clearly your subject and readers.

How do you begin to understand your subject and readers better?

But if you try that too much in the first draft…. You may never draft anything Williams says “You need to get something down on paper or just up on the screen as fast as you can just to have something to revise.” Many writers say that sometimes we need to write in order to know what we think about something.

No one learns to write better with just rules. Writers learn to write better only with practice.