by Dr. Shanthi Thomas
Many people believe that English writing is an inborn gift. In fact, English writing is a skill. And like any skill, it can be practiced to perfection. All you need to have is the enthusiasm. And the basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary. Of course, you need ideas too. You should know what exactly you want to write about.
Your school takes care of the basics. You learn basic grammar, vocabulary and reading skills. You learn to write compositions in school. but then, when you talk about English writing, we don’t mean these things. We mean writing beautiful stories and poems in English. We also mean English for business such as writing business letters and emails.
This is a no-brainer. There is no writing happening if there is nothing to write about. Many people forget about this. However, good writing can make even a bad idea look good. This is something that we always see in politics. You may not really agree with a politician’s idea. But her speech writers may be so good that they can present that idea as a gem. As they say, presentation is everything.
Grammar and vocabulary and the flesh and bone of writing. They are the foundation on which the whole edifice of writing rests. Nowadays, in post modern writing, may writers eschew grammar. And make up their own vocabulary. Well, there is a reason post modern writing is not popular! An idea may be good. Ethical. Popular. Non-controversial. But if it is not clothed in accurate grammar and evocative vocabulary, it has failed.
Nowadays, you don’t follow any rule in sentence constructions. In the good old days, a sentence had to have a subject and a predicate. Now a subject by itself can be a sentence. Predicate by itself can be a sentence. In the olden days, if you wrote, ‘Having had his lunch late, he was not hungry’, it was considered a good sentence. Nowadays you can write. ‘Well, had his lunch late. Not hungry anymore’. Perfectly fine. That said, you have to be careful when you have to write formal English, like a university thesis or assignment. Or a job application.
All writing is not the same. We write something with a purpose in mind.
An argumentative essay has the purpose of presenting two or more points of view regarding an issue and arguing for one of them. An example of a topic for an argumentative essay would be ‘should euthanasia be legal?’
An expository essay conveys information with clear supporting points. An example of an expository essay topic would be ‘How should teenagers keep themselves healthy and fit?’ The writer will go on to list all the ways by which teenagers can keep themselves healthy and fit.
A narrative essay is actually story writing. The story can be real or fictional. If it is a fictional narrative, there will be a lot of creativity needed. An example of a narrative essay topic would be ‘Write a story in which an email plays a very important role’.
A descriptive essay, as the name suggests, describes something. Usually, descriptions are done using how our five sensory organs receive their sensations – sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. An example of a descriptive essay topic would be ‘Describe the scene at a stadium before a football match begins’.
Good writing has several characteristics. It will not be wordy. This means that there will not be too many words and too little ideas. Good writing also will not have words that are redundant. Writing should also keep up with the times. One should not use archaic words in writing modern English unless it serves a special purpose. Finally, it goes without saying that good writers are always good readers. The ideas, vocabulary, turn of phrase, characterization – all of these are acquired from reading.
Finally, the hallmark of good writing is that it should come from the heart. No artificial frills. No fake emotions. No pomposity. Definitely no plagiarism. And definitely not written by AI. In fact, in modern times, defeating ChatGPT in writing is one of the main aims of good writing. But it is no easy task.
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