Techniques in Writing - Suggestions for Students

Your elementary and perhaps junior high studies sometimes required "reports".

14:22 09 March 2021

These reports were usually about an animal, a state, a country, a person, or a thing. The report usually dealt with facts (and photos)--those gleaned from various reference sources such as an encyclopedia set, books in the library, or those gleaned from an Internet search.

 

Essays and papers (particularly those in the college world), however, usually require more than an assortment of facts (no matter how well organized or presented). They require analysis and synthesise--your ideas and opinions about the material are an important part of the work. You can ask special services to write my essay for me, but if you can express your ideas and opinions well--through the skillful use of vocabulary, grammar, and composition, you will find your college and work experience with writing a lot more enjoyable.

 

You can enhance your writing ability by reading from a wide variety of material. You will notice that there are poor writers and good writers in all fields--whether in sports, business, financial, science, and literature. By reading in all of these fields you are not only becoming familiar with the particular beat or rhythm in writing, but you are also picking up more vocabulary words through the context they are presented in.

 

Word Usage: Connotation versus Denotation

 

You have a cologne or a perfume... you could say that it has an odor or scent--and you could be relatively neutral about your statement. If you wanted to "color" your statement positively, you could use the word "fragrance". If you wanted to "color" the statement negatively, the word "stench" would do. By skillful use of words, their connotations (the "feeling" associated with the word), and their denotations (the specific factual meaning of the word), you can get your point across more clearly and give your writing what is called the slant.

 

Pay attention to various media sources such as newspapers, magazines, and the television news--you'll see how reporters and news writers can slant their stories in ways that reflect their personal bias or the political leanings of their publication. If you understand slant, you are able to better discern when you are being fed a line of bovine excrement (this, of course, is just my opinion--and you are entitled to your own --and your mileage may vary).

 

"Knee-jerk" Words

 

Certain words get a rise out of your readers--sometimes no matter what their background, sometimes in particular because of their background. The words nuclear, evolution, abortion, humanism, terrorism, spotted owls, sales pitches, ecology and others can cause a knee-jerk reaction from the reader that closes off their brain to any further input.

 

Your reader's mind is already made up--if you write something that goes against what your reader already believes too soon in your writing, your reader will not want to continue with the reading. You can ask someone to write my essay, but if you are skilled with your writing, you can "sneak-up-on-them" by presenting the material gently and in tune with your reader's background--then, after you "have your reader eating out of your hand", you can guide them to a new way of thinking about what you want them to know.

 

Students who have studied forensics (not the CSI stuff, but the debate stuff) may have an advantage in presenting their material most convincingly. This may also be referred to as "Aikido" writing--using the opponent's force (called "qi/ki" in Chinese/Japanese) in a gentle "redirection" in the way you want it to go. It takes many years to learn how to do this skillfully.

 

Pyramid versus Inverted Pyramid

 

How do you approach your material? Hitting with the main point first then supporting it with pertinent facts, or starting with a few supporting details that lead up to the main point? Each approach has its usefulness.

 

Newspapers generally use the inverted pyramid method--they start with the big picture and the who, what, where, when, and why--and then add more and more details to support the first point. They do this mainly for two reasons:

 

• Busy folks may not have the time to read the whole article--this approach ensures that the essential information is more easily found.
  
  
• Sometimes the article must be cut to fit an allotted space--if it's a choice between article and advertising, advertising will generally win (because that's how the paper makes its money). Also, sometimes the dimensions of the space left within the pages (after all the advertising has been accounted for) require things to be cut. The staff at the "point of the pyramid" can be cut without affecting the main gist of the article.
  
  

About the author: Diane H. Wong used to be a business coach. Besides, she is a writer at DoMyWriting so she prefers to spend her spare time working out marketing strategies. In this case, she has an opportunity to share her experience with others and keep up with advancing technologies.