What It Means To Write Effectively
An exploration of Dr. Larry McEnerney's lecture on "The Craft of Writing Effectively" and its impact on writers.
What is the greatest conflict that high school, university and graduate students contend with at the highest frequency? The ability to write well.
Anywhere from 60% and upwards of a typical course at these levels are determined based on written content that the student produces, many times concluding the course with a 20-40% written assignment. It should come as no surprise that students struggle to great lengths with how to write a compelling, academically satisfying paper that accomplishes the goals and regulations set out for them.
I have struggled with this battle for years, particularly as an individual who struggles with writing too much and having too much to say. Recently, however, I stumbled across Dr. Larry McEnerney’s lecture on writing effectively. Seeing as this newsletter is my personal endeavour into academic writing and dialogues, I can develop no better topic to fulfil my initial volume than this.
Writing Has To Be Valuable
The most important concept to take away from Dr. McEnerney’s lecture is that your writing must be valuable above all other measures of success. This extends to three identifiable aspects of writing:
Writing must be persuasive;
Writing must be organized;
Writing must be clear.
Persuasive writing means to provide an argument that serves to sway or alter the understanding that your reader has previously acquired. In other words, you need to develop the readers understanding of a concept OR alter/change their fundamental understanding of this content in order to be considered persuasive. The value that persuasiveness provides in a written setting is rooted in addressing ideas that the reader is interested in understanding, conceptualizing, or developing knowledge on.
Organized writing refers to developing a level of organization within your writing that allows for a clear narrative to shine through, further enhancing the readers experience. Organized writing has an understated value to academic writing; clarity in complex writing is typically the aspect of a paper that looses many in the weeds, failing to highlight the bigger picture. I know that I tend to fail to re-focus on the big picture and I get lost in the weeds of detail that are not consequential to the broader narrative I am attempting to construct.
Clear writing develops an understanding of word choice and the ‘code’ that a specific subfield of study frequently utilizes. The ‘code’ I am referring to is the compilation of words or phrases that are the particular dogma in your field of study. This is the least critical of the three aspects of valuable writing but is equally as overlooked by students.
Each of these three concepts should be maximized if the aim is to accomplish writing the greatest possible paper an individual is capable of.
The Reader Is Where The Value Is Found
The through-line of understanding in each of the three aspects of effective writing lies in the reader, specifically in what the reader places value in. This value is derived from writing about what specific demographics of readers find interesting, not about what you find interesting on a personal level. Understanding this will immediately increase the effectiveness of your writing compared to what you have previously produced, if combined with the three aspects of effective writing from above then your writing will most certainly be more effective than in previous written works. It is important to remember that these aspects are new and troublesome to writers as we have been taught to write for someone who is being paid to mark our work, as Dr. McEnerney expertly explains. Allowing yourself to accept this concept will aid in developing your reading skills more effectively.
Creative Value Is Rooted In Finding ‘Falsehoods’ In Existing Literature
Dr. McEnerney establishes the root of developing value in writing; identifying the ‘wrong’ aspects of academic literature in your field and utilizing the correct language to convey these ‘falsehoods’ is critical to creating value. This relates to the ‘code’ that I referenced earlier, the language that is specific to your field of study and that is used frequently in academic literature. By using the correct language to outline the falsities in the existing literature will help create what Dr. McEnerney calls ‘instability.’ The aim of developing instability in your writing is to create tension and to pull the reader into what you are trying to help them understand. If you can hook the reader with instability and tension, then swaying/altering/deepening their understanding of the problem being discussed becomes far more simple.
“An Essay Exists to Help a Scientific Group of Readers Understand Something Better That They Want to Understand Well” - Dr. Larry McEnerney
This quote from Dr. McEnerney demonstrates the concept that has popped up throughout the previous concepts; the reader is the key to developing good academic literature, specifically developing deeper understandings for their academic journey.
Dr. McEnerney is specifically referring to the idea that whoever is reading your academic literature is either being paid to read it or is already educated on the topic you are discussing. Therefore, in order to create a valuable piece of written literature, you must provide value to your reader. Being persuasive, organized and clear in your writing serves to make this process of understanding easier for your reader, further increasing the value that the reader finds in your work.
So, What Should an Essay Look Like Then?
Almost all North American school attendees have been taught that writing an essay should follow the broad general statement (BGS) standard form. This method of writing is also referred to as the ‘martini glass’ method of essay writing, which Dr. McEnerney says is completely wrong. Beginning with a broad statement on the topic of your essay is not a compelling nor an unstable way of initiating a piece of academic literature. Dr. McEnerney provides an alternative method for essay writing, it is as follows:
Problem → Solution
The Problem is a literal statement of the problem you are addressing in your essay/academic work. The goal with this method is to create instability from the beginning, therefore establishing tension at the outset of the essay. As mentioned previously, tension is essential to establishing value from the readers perspective. Presenting the problem from the start helps to establish costs/benefits which aid in hooking the reader as well, specifically due to the reader gaining an understanding of the potential costs and/or benefits to the academic work they are about to traverse.
The Solution is the answer to the Problem that you present in the beginning of your essay. The solution takes the role of the thesis in this scenario, it allows for the reader to grasp an idea of the path forward throughout your presentation of the issues and solutions that you will establish during the course of your writing. Pairing these two practices together will help to further develop your writing abilities and will allow you to begin writing more effectively.
Why Does All of This Matter?
As I work through the world of running a newsletter and developing a deeper understanding of complex topics for myself, I believe it is important to develop a better understanding of how to write effective academic works. One of my goals with this newsletter is to become a deeper thinking intellectual; to gain valuable understandings of the world around me through lenses that I place value in. As a result, it is important to understand that writing valuable pieces has a direct correlation with the value that your readers find in your work. If I am seeking to develop my understanding of various topics through lenses I place value in, then it is safe to assume that others are seeking to do the same. Therefore, Dr. McEnerney’s comments on making your writing valuable, above all else, is perhaps the most valuable piece of writing information I have ever received, and I am sure you will find utility in this contents as well.
I would highly recommend you watch the lecture for yourself, you can find it on YouTube here: LEADERSHIP LAB: The Craft of Writing Effectively