Writing
Introduction
Regardless of your writing expertise or your level of writing, you want to avoid bad writing. Likewise, irrespective of your industry, you want to establish your authority as a good writer. So in this blog post, I’ll cover aspects that make your write-up look bad. We’ll discuss how bad writing is defined and share five best practices for avoiding bad writing.
What is Bad Writing?
Bad writing refers to write-ups that are unclear with the complex writing style. It makes your story/ write-up too challenging to follow. Either because it is dull or lazy. When you read your writing out loud, it makes an awkward sound and rings alarms in your brains. Your brain begs you to stop reading because nothing is happening in the story. The plot seems stagnant, the words do not flow, the sentences are awkwardly constructed, and the paragraphs are problematic.
Why is Bad Writing Important?
It’s not rocket science to know everyone can write. Yes, everyone can write, but not everyone can develop keen eyes for details and skills. Similarly, not everyone becomes the readers’ favorite. If you want to be in your readers’ good books, then bad writing needs to be avoided at all costs.
Your bad writing not only blackens your name, making people avoid your content, but it can create a severe impact on your credibility as a writer. Losing the trust of people is losing your writing expertise. Like it or not, writers are ego-conscious people.
They want to be appreciated and acknowledged. Although I believe it is the same with everyone, writers’ sensitivity regarding their writers can make or break their careers. Many aspiring writers and creative people stopped writing because their style was perceived. When this happens, it is always better to remind yourself; through consistency, make creativity a habit.
This leads us to explore what makes one person’s writing separate from the other. What well-acknowledged writers do to create an impact on their audience? Learning from the expert’s mistakes and success is worth remembering because they teach us how to hone our writing style to stand out from the crowd.
Bad writing Features:
- Unclear
Bad writing makes a reader confused about your story, message, or purpose. Confusion leads to re-reading a sentence or the word, again and again, to make sense out of it. Your definition of writing should be clear right from the beginning of your write-up. Similarly, your purpose in writing is to communicate. If your writing hinders your communication, then your reader may not trust your future content. Win the heart of your reader through sentence and paragraph clarity.
- Egoistic Verbosity
If you show off your expertise, you are involved in a bad writing process. Instead of boasting about your language knowledge, write to communicate effectively. Your goal should be to avoid complex and unknown words while writing. Making your readers look in the dictionary for a word, again and again, is an inconsiderate habit and irritating. Help your reader understand your purpose by using simple language.
Does it mean to avoid three-syllable complex words all the time? The simple answer is no. If using an unusual word helps you define the object well, then it is acceptable. As long as your purpose is to communicate effectively, you are good. But once it becomes a self-centered activity, then you must avoid it straightaway.
- Wrong vocabulary
Often bad writing involves the usage of the wrong vocabulary. English synonyms and homophones word can confuse your readers. Use the words that best describe your object in a way that is concrete and vivid. If you are confusing about some specific word, search it online. If you have a dictionary, utilize it accordingly. But the wrong vocabulary makes your readers itch their heads, and they instantly become uninterested.
- Boring
Irrespective of your writing purpose, if your lazy or boring, it is a sign of bad writing. Craft the sentence structures that help you retain the engagement and interest of your readers. If your readers lose interest in your story, then you will have a problem creating good content.
Clichéd and dead metaphor
Words lose their power once they are overused or become clichéd. Write in a way that shows your novelty and creativity. Saying someone is as brave as a lion is boring and lazy. It is also a sign that you need to avoid creating redundant content.
- Coherence and flow issues
Bad writing is inconsistent with writing flow issues. Your paragraphs should be in flow with each other. One idea should lead to another naturally. If your reader finds your writing forced, imposed, or lengthy, they will have difficulty trusting your content. Everything should be organized and structured wisely with a natural course.
- Lack of beauty
You should be entertaining. It should be a treat for the readers that give them food for thought. Writing blatantly does not help you communicate effectively. If you have missed highlighting the beauty elements in your writings, then your write-up may become a piece of bad writing for your reader. Here writing with beauty doesn’t mean you start using flowery language that shows off. It means that you should give pleasure to the readers. It also means that it adds to the readers’ intellect, giving them a space to reflect and contemplate your ideas.
Key Characteristics and Profound Details
| Key Focus | What to Avoid | Best Practices |
|---|---|---|
| Clarity in Writing | Unclear, complex, or confusing language. | Be specific and relevant; avoid confusion. |
| Ego and Verbosity | Boasting about language skills; using unnecessarily complex vocabulary. | Write simply and effectively; avoid jargon. |
| Vocabulary and Expression | Wrong word choice leading to confusion. | Use concrete, vivid words; check vocabulary usage. |
| Engagement and Interest | Boring or lazy writing. | Craft engaging sentences; maintain reader interest. |
| Originality | Clichés and overused metaphors. | Employ creative and novel expressions. |
| Coherence and Flow | Disjointed or forced writing; lack of narrative flow. | Ensure logical flow and coherence in writing. |
| Emotional Resonance | Lack of sentiment and emotional depth. | Write with emotional depth to resonate with readers. |
Bad writing elements in the story
- No.1: Flawed language
When writing a story, your language should not be inaccurate or flawed. Flawed language refers to awkward expressions, wrong spellings, incorrect grammar, inconsistent writing style, wrong sentence constructions, and misplaced punctuation. Likewise, clichéd language and improper figure of speech fall in this category as well.
- No.2: Stagnant plot
The plot is the basic story-line. It tells how the actions will occur, what happens, how it happens, and why it happens. If your plot-line is stagnant or rather too slow, then you are the culprit of bad writing. Your goal should be to formulate a smooth plot-line that keeps your readers engaged throughout the story.
The more your plot is slower with no exciting elements or disconnected subplots, the more it will make the reader dislike your story. Keep your readers in pursuit of the high stakes. When you can draw your readers’ senses in the story, the better your story becomes. Hence you will be able to avoid bad writing.
- No.3: Low-stake writing.
Readers like to discover things on their own. They like to explore new truths, whether moral, social, or spiritual. If your story involves low-stake writing, then it is possible that your reader may not enjoy the whole process. Giving answers to everything makes them feel dictated, and the text is rather perceived as didactic. Your reader wants to find the answer to the puzzle on their own. Give your readers the time to explore and understand things on their own. Give your readers the high-stake life of characters and make them feel like they are a part of the plot, just as the character in the story does.
- No.4: Foreseeable plot
For the avid reader, boring plots are equivalent to bad writing. When your plot-line is too obvious or predictable, write from the start, then it loses its power to keep the reader interested in the story. If your readers are unable to relate or connect to the story, there are chances that you might lose your real-time readers. You would never want that. Would you?
- No.5: No moving characters
As you know, there are two types of characters in every story: flat and round. Experienced and creative writers keep a balance between these two types. If all of your characters are flat with no unique quality of their own, then your readers will struggle to finish the story. Create characters and give them some special attribute that makes them exceptional or their lives worth exploring. Make your story’s character special that your readers resist putting the book away.
- No.6: No sentiments and emotions
There are books that you would want to read again and again, and then there are books that you would never want to read again. Ever thought about what makes them different from each other? It’s because of the emotional resonance and sentiments. Bad writing often refers to non-sentiments and hardcore emotions. When you can speak to the people’s hearts, you create a magical book, which your readers can’t resist.
Best practices to Avoid Bad Writing:
- Read your story or the text out loud
- Cut down long sentences and write simple sentences
- Be relevant and specific to avoid confusions
- Rewrite the sentence or the paragraph once you feel the need for it.
- Delete sentences if need be, and keep editing your content
- Practice and practice to make your content engaging and effective.
Checklist to avoid bad writing
- Have you explained the key concept?
- Have you answered the questions?
- Did you check the grammar, spelling and proofread the content?
- Is your content edited properly?
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