How To Be A Better Writer: Nouns And Verbs

Despite what you may have been led to believe much of what is considered good literature (especially post 1960) is absolute crap and not just that poorly written as well. Many writers tried to cultivate this air of mystery by having the meaning of their writer covered in fancy words and double meanings. While before this may (or may not) have made you look smart nowadays the only thing that this will accomplish in insuring that you never get read. And if you never get read you might as well have not even wrote most of the time.

In how to be a better writer my goal is to teach you the fundamentals of writing so that you can make sure that you are providing the best writing possible to your readers. This isn’t something you have to do perfectly every time as writing without any heart isn’t going to do much for you even if well written. Simply some guidelines for you to follow so that your writing is better.

Beauty In Simplicity

A main stay of good writing is being clear and precise in your meaning while using words that the majority of people can grasp. So even though a fancier word may better say what you want if someone has to look up what that word means in the dictionary than it’s going to lose any advantage it had over the simpler word. Understand your audience unless your writing to doctors or well read people keep the fancy language out of your writing. I know sometimes I violate this rule as remember writing must have heart before anything else but it is something that I keep in mind.

The harder you make your reader work the worse your writing is going to be. You want your words to flow and for the reader to have an easy time reading what it is you have to say. Most people have something like a sixth grade reading level. This may no be your audience but it is most, keep this in mind. It is better to write too simply than it is too write too complexly. As writing too simply will still be comprehended by those who could read a higher level while writing too complexly blocks out a portion of your audience.

Nouns And Verbs

One key facet of writing simply is to primarily use nouns and verbs in your writing and too keep out adverbs and adjectives as much as possible. When you use nouns and especially verbs you writing flows easier. In Strunk and White’s Elements of Style they say “Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn’t been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place (the same can be said of adverbs for verbs)”. Verbs add action to your writing engaging the reader and helping it to flow. While nouns provide the substance for your readers.

This isn’t to say never use adjectives or adverbs simply to use them sparingly. Rarely use them as they tend to clunk up your sentences and writing flow. Keep to nouns and verbs so that you sentences flow and are easy on both the readers eyes and even more importantly the readers mind. You can also use verbs as adjectives and nouns that often work more effectively than adjectives and sometimes even the nouns themselves. These are called participles and gerunds respectively.

Here is an example of the verb vanquish being used as a participle (adjective) “Vanquished, the knight fell to the ground”. And here is an example of the verb lose being used a gerund (noun) “Bill is losing control”. I personally think participles are more effective than gerunds. As long as most of your sentences consist of verbs and nouns you will be doing fine.

Summary

Your writing should be clear and simple. Your reader shouldn’t have to go back and comprehend what you just wrote nor should they have to have a dictionary nearby to understand your writing. That is a fail proof way to make sure you never get read. Keep it simply and too the point. Know your audience that you are writing for and adjust accordingly. For the most part keep adverbs and adjectives out of your writing. Again don’t be obsessive about this but just something to keep in mind.

Also remember that without a heart your writing isn’t going to get read. So even if you have to bend or even break these rules a little bit to truly express what you need and want to express then by all means do so. Lifeless reading no matter how well crafted isn’t going to draw people in and get them to come back. Make sure you put your heart and soul into your writing or it will go no where. Use nouns and verbs as much as possible. Keep your sentences flowing and simply and your readers will keep reading.

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.

-Charles Sledge