5 Fundamental Writing Principles For Every Purposeful Writer
I have been blogging since 4th grade. Back then, if you were cool, you owned a Xanga or a Blogspot page. Then came Multiply, and soon after, Tumblr and Wordpress. I had at least two accounts on each of these platforms, and I’d fill them up with so much content that could probably fill up a top-ranking website.
Platforms come and go, but the core purpose of having a blog (or a micro-blog on social media networks) remains the same — to share our stories and ideas through words. And anyone who believes she can write something of value has reason to master the craft, for its potential to change the world lies in how well it is written.
I used to think that good writing was the result of endless practice. This is partly true, but in recent years, I learned that great writers follow a set of fundamental principles. William Zinsser’s On Writing Well and Writing to Learn are wonderful starting points, and I quote some of the books’ passages below.
Write With Simplicity
A good writer can simplify a technical, abstract, or complex idea into prose that is easily understandable. Sentences are lean, words are fresh, and tone isn’t airy.
Don’t write with the intent of showing off your broad vocabulary. Some words just don’t fit, and that…
