1.

Introduction to Effective writing

Good morning and welcome to NPTEL course on Effective Writing, standing before you is
Binod Mishra a faculty in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee.
The course designed for you entitled Effective Writing may make you curious enough as to
what effective writing is. The question that many of us come across today is---- is our
writing not effective? You also might be thinking as to all sorts
of writing that you did in your schools and colleges where they are not effective. My
dear friends, this is actually not the case, the course has been designed in a way that
actually exposes you to different situations where you have to write differently as well
as effectively in order to carve a niche for yourself.
Now, you might also be thinking as to what this course offers. This course actually takes
into consideration various nuances of writing effectively in numerous ways; so, that your
writing can cater to the need. My dear friends, whenever you come across writing--- any piece
of writing that you interface, you often start thinking as to how the writer might have written
it so effectively. Imagine, one day while passing by a bus stand
or waiting for your desired train, bus or any vehicle, suddenly your eyes fall upon
the pile of books on a bookstall. And, you start thinking if you could get a book and
you go there and take a book also, you start reading the first page, of course, it interests
you a lot. Now, the question is, does the cover of the book interest you or is it the
first page of the book interests you, or is it the subject that interests you?
There are numerous questions when you gloss over a few pages you think that this is the
book that can actually make you or involve you into a sort of reading. Now, how could
it be an effective book? It is an effective book because it is written effectively. Now,
you might all be thinking, do you not write effectively, you have already done a lot of
writing in your schools and colleges. But, then as you grow in life, you come across
different situations not only in your personal lives but in the professional lives as well
where you need to write in order to satisfy your audience, in order to satisfy your crowd,
in order to satisfy your readers, your recipients. Now, another question that you might be thinking---
is there magic, or is there a mantra that can make your writing effective.
The course will introduce you to different nuances, of course, not to a variety of subjects,
but to one thing that can be common in making a subject interesting or a subject effective;
it is actually the writer that can make a book, a writing effective. Now, do you all
want to be writers? Not at all, all of us have a career before us, all of us are struggling
to get a sort of vocation. Writing, of course, is a vocation, but not all of us want to become
writers. We actually want to succeed in whatever job, whatever workplaces we are in.
Now how to do that? All sorts of writing that you come across, my dear friend! whether it
is driving a car, cooking, whether it is riding a bicycle, whether it is knowing about some
formula, whether it is knowing about a difficult subject; all these information are in the
repository of written information. Of course, this written information comprises books,
journals, periodicals and many more. You might all realize that books serve as a storehouse
of knowledge. There are a variety of subjects, and all these
subjects cannot have only one style of writing. The other day when you get bored what do you
do, you actually want to relax yourself, and then you want to read a book that can have
some lighter moments. Say, for example, somebody wants to read a novel, somebody wants to read
a book of poetry. But, then on other occasions when you want to get some more knowledge when
you want to get the knowledge that can actually help you prosper in your life, you turn your
attention towards different subjects. Books not only dispel the darkness, if somebody
makes books their friends but they can also find life to be as interesting as anything.
Books also lessen our boredom, books actually create in us the desire to imitate established
writers. Imagine, most of you youngsters for whom this course is designed and also for
professionals who are writing in one way than other, they might always find when they come
across a good book, they always want to imitate or copy established writers.
My dear friends, one does not become a writer in a single day. Sometimes while you are reading
the plays of Shakespeare or you are reading the novels of Emily Dickinson or reading the
poems of John Keats, or you are reading some theorems of some scientists, or you are reading
certain given formulas by some eminent personalities in their own area; you actually identify yourself,
and you start having a sort of fondness that if you could also write like them. Do you
think that they became writers, they became established just in one day?
No, my dear friends. Now another question that you also might be thinking is--- Is reading
helpful in order to make somebody a writer? Should we do a lot of reading? Of course,
no, one can be a good writer unless and until one reads a lots of books, but then one also
has to decide how to read a book, which books are to be read, why to be read and in what
way you can imitate them, what can books do to you.
In this regard, I am reminded of a famous English essayist named Francis Bacon, who
has given very sound advice in one of his famous essays entitled “Of Studies” where
he says “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed
and digested.” My dear friends, Francis Bacon, a person who not only was a writer
but a philosopher, knew the art of writing and how to write precisely and how to write
plainly one can really learn from him.
Look at the words that he says: some books are only to be tasted you cannot devote a
lot of time reading all the books. There are some books which you read to pass your time,
and there are other books which are to be swallowed, say for example, when you are reading
some books from the science when you are reading some books which actually are a repository
of information which can lead you towards a very coveted career for yourself.
You find that those books, the formulas, the reactions, the chemical equations and many
more; they have to be swallowed and there are some few to be chewed and digested. Especially,
when you are reading a book of literature, when you are reading a book of philosophy,
when you are reading a book, say for example, of thermodynamics and all, you will find that
unless and until you have chewed them entirely and digested them, it is no use reading that
book. Some books are to be read, and only in parts,
when you as a growing person; growing in whatever field you are, you find it whether you are
writing a piece of paper or an article for a journal or some essay, you will find you
also require some sorts of references and for that, you consult some books. Of course,
they are to be referred, but then there are some books which can be read, only in parts.
There are others to be read, but not curiously; I mean books which you simply read to pass
your time. You read them no doubt, but you do not read them as curiously as you read
a book of your own subject. And, some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention.
For example, if you are woring in a field where an expertise knowledge is required naturally,
you start searching for those books which you have to read wholly and also with the
diligence and kind attention my dear friends. Thus, for all sorts of writing and because
I say the course is entitled Effective Writing; in order to write effectively in whatever
area you are, you actually have to come across the repository of written information. Now,
what is happening today, and what is actually the need of this course called Effective Writing?
As I posed the question, in the beginning, do we not write effectively?.
No, my dear friends, we write, of course, but then there is actually a little bit of
writing you will find that in a global age of today, in a digital age of today; when
you have plenty of resources at your disposal, you actually do not get much time to read.
You do not also get much time to think and that is what results in too less of writing,
scant writing. So, what happens is, there is a lot of distractions, most of the time
the youngsters are found busy with their laptops, with their mobile phones, with their walkie
talkie and many more. And, all that results in creating a sort of
aversion towards writing, I do at times remember when I give an assignment to some of my students;
I can see, I can read the reactions on their face. They are actually too much averse to
writing. Now, the question is simply you want to be a writer? You want to follow an established
writer, but then how can it be possible, my dear friends, unless and until you are interested,
unless and until you have an interest in writing. You actually as I quote a line from a very
eminent poet who says “You are, but willing to wound but afraid to strike.” You actually
want to become a reader, you actually want to become a writer, but then you are afraid
to start. And, then you are simply thinking, you are dreaming to be a writer; how can a
man become a writer or write efficiently unless and until he has the patience to read, he
has the patience to write? Some day or the other you have to start in order to write.
Many of us, who think that they too could write, they do not come out of their shyness,
come out of their hesitation and do not write. And, that is why they are not able to write
effectively when the situation demands such a thing from them. You and those many of you
nowadays you will find that youngsters are very much influenced by one of the famous
writers of today J K Rowling. J K Rowling’s Harry Potter is playing on
the minds of the youngsters, but then they simply praise a lot and when they try to imitate,
what they want is they actually are hankering after instant praise and acceptability. My
dear friends, acceptability cannot come just in one day, it actually requires days, months,
years and all the established writers that you come across or you read, and you get enlightened
are those who have burned a lot of midnight oils and who have spent reading throughout
the nights and writing. So, writing, my dear friend, is not a one
day affair whether we talk about writing or any other form of communication because all
of you know that writing is one of the most complex areas of communication skills. So,
it is better, and it is rather pertinent and in the fitness of things if we can understand
what actually is a communication process. Because, writing being one of the prime ingredients
of communication skills, unless and until you know how the communication process takes
place, it will become very difficult to start your journey towards writing. Of course, I
do not want all of you to become writers because if all of you become writers, who will become
the readers, my dear friend.
So, let us have a look at Shannon’s model of communication. Because when we write we
actually have a desire to be understood. We actually have a sort of oneness that our writing
gets across. How can our writing get across? How can our message be heard, be listened?
My dear friend, when you want to write something, you actually are a sender, you are going to
create a sort of message. So, if we go to the communication process, the first thing
in the communication process is that as a writer you are a sender, you want to send
a message. Now, how should the sender send the message?
The sender will first think about to whom he is going to send the message, who will
be the recipient of the message, who will be the recipient of the content. Who will
be the recipient of the idea, who will be the recipient of the information that you
want to pass on? And, once you know about your recipient or your reader or say for that
matter your audience, you actually start thinking how the message or the content has to be framed.
So, when you start thinking about the framing of the message, naturally the language comes
into the picture. So, when you talk about writing, it is not simply about the sender,
but also developing the content. And, the development of the content or the formulation
or the ideation of the message takes place once you know the background of your recipient
or reader. And, once you know your readers' background or your recipients' background
then you decide what should be the channel. Of course, in spoken communication you have
a variety of channels, in written also you have a variety of channels or the medium that
I should say. You may want to write a letter; you may want to send an email, you may also
want to send a message, you may want to write an essay. In all these situations you have
the desired audience before you. Now, when you have created the message or
formulated the message you will find that your message has to get across. And how can
your message get across? You decide the medium and when you decide the medium and send it,
you are actually waiting for the response and the observation of the response is the
feedback. Imagine, in olden days when we used to send our letters, we used to wait for days
or sometimes for weeks to get the response. Nowadays, it has become quite possible, thanks
to technology because nowadays we have the facility that when you write an email, you
will find that the response will come either in an hour or in a day or whatsoever. Depending
upon the facility, the ease of the reader, ease of the recipient and also the background
of the recipient. So, but it so happens that when you write as a sender when you actually
frame the message as a sender, you have the desired meaning within you.
In order that the desired meaning is received well by the audience, you actually have to
think about how you are framing the message. What sort of words you are going to choose,
what sort of sentence length because all that it matters in written communication is the
language part. Language plays a very vital role in communication, my dear friends. So,
when you are acquainted with the communication process perhaps your task of writing efficiently
will become clearer. Now, the question is: Is it time to know the
differences between the written and the oral communication? Of course, all of us, I mean
as human beings, we have the facility you know the facility of speaking. We actually
have a natural ability to speak. Everyone-- majority of us have the ability to speak.
Of course, in speaking also there are some people who are more effective, but most of
us can express; so, we have the facility. So, it is time we understood the key differences
between oral and written communication.
Now, oral communication or the spoken form of communication as you all know, is one such
communication in which the sender transmits the information or the content of the receiver
through verbally speaking. You speak, of course, the quality of speaking matters somebody may
speak in a low voice, somebody may speak at a rational pace, but somebody may speak very
fast. Of course, whether it is written or oral communication,
there are several impediments which can harm the communication process. But, in written
communication you will find, it is actually a mode of communication where you use a printed
text or written material in order to exchange the information. And, both the sender and
the receiver when we are talking about the written communication, they actually have
to be literate. So, spoken communication has a facility that
even if a person is not that literate or qualified enough, he can understand the words unless
and until you are using difficult words. So is the problem even when you are addressing
a literate person in written communication and imagine if you use a word which is very
difficult. What will happen? Will the recipient be able to understand or interpret the message?
Not at all, my dear friends. So, but then there is your facility and why
I say facility because when you are writing something when you are going for written communication;
this written communication in the times to come will become a sort of record. There is
no flexibility. Because, as I have been saying a writer writes in absence, in absence means
a writer is present even in his absence. When you read a book, imagine you are reading a
book. So, what you think is you are reading no doubt,
but do you see the writer? No, the writer is somewhere else and if you come across something
which is difficult, you cannot seek an explanation from the writer. Am I right? Yes, because
there is no scope of flexibility in written communication, that is why written communication
is more arduous, it is more difficult, it is more challenging.
And, I want all of you, I want all my readers, listeners that they should be able to-- after
doing this course, they should be able to write effectively. So, that their recipients,
their readers or their receivers may not feel any difficulty in order to analyze a message.
As regards fastness, oral communication is of course, faster know, face to face communication
is always, written communication is delayed. But, as I said thanks to digital technology,
written communication has also become faster, my dear friends. But, remember one impediment
that the written communication has is that once you write a word, the word once written
you have the facility you can edit. But, in speaking, what happens? You cannot
edit that, nowadays there are several facilities, but then when you say something to somebody,
you have already conveyed your message and the words that you have used. But, when you
write something you have actually the facility of editing; you can delete, you can substitute,
you can edit, you can change the language. You can change the tone that is why written
communication is more difficult, more challenging, that is why written communication allows you
and I always say speaking is a spontaneous process, but writing is a deliberate process.
When you write you decide to write, is not it and when you decide to write you actually
start writing with a purpose; you have a purpose. Why are you writing, is not it? So, when you
think why are you writing and to whom are you writing, naturally, you will have control
over words. You will have a sort of consideration, keeping
into consideration the readers or the recipients or the listeners or the audience's background.
But, in oral communication, even though we get instant feedback; there is no such chance
that you can revise what you have already said. So, in oral communication instant feedback
is received from the recipient which is not possible.
You know every process whether it is written or oral, it has got its advantage and disadvantage
as well. But, since as I said earlier that when we write because writing is a deliberate
process, my dear friend. And, this course that has been designed with a hope that as
individuals who are actually trying to create a niche, carve a niche who are actually trying
to make a career they actually have to be exposed to different sorts of writing.
Now, in the workplace do you think the way you speak and the way you write are the same
things? No, they are different because when you speak, you speak also informally isn’t
it, but when you write at the workplace you have to write formally. It would be better
if we can understand what are the aims of writing; so, that we can be extra cautious
when it comes to the task of writing. Because, unless and until we have a purpose set in
our mind we cannot write meaningfully, we cannot write effectively.
Effective writing is one where the receiver, where the person, on the other hand, does
not have any problem in understanding or analyzing the content or the message. So, there can
be various aims of writing at the workplace depending upon the situations, circumstances,
organizations that you are working in. You will find we can categorize these aims of
writing as it can be at times written to describe. Imagine you have got a role in an organization
where at times you have to describe something, describing an object, describing an instrument.
You suppose you are an engineer and then an engineer has to do a lot of tasks. You are
an entrepreneur again you have a lot of tasks before you, you are actually a teacher you
again have several ways that you can write and you can instruct; again at times you have
to send some guidelines.
So, the aims of writing are to describe, to explain; something went wrong and you are
an expert in that field. So, what would you do? You will actually explain how it went
wrong, how it can be corrected. How you can find a solution to it and then on many occasions
you will find that you have to instruct. Suppose you are a manager and you have got a sort
of responsibility as to get a target fulfilled in such and such within such and such period.
So, what will you do? You will instruct and there are many people, all these people have
different roles, all these people have different responsibilities; you actually need to instruct
them. Unless and until the instructions are clear, my dear friend, they cannot do well,
you remember when you go to appear at the examination on the question paper itself is
written instructions know. Why instructions? Instructions as how to respond to these questions
likewise in organizations in several institutions you also at times have to send them certain
instructions. And, in order to fulfil the desired aim, you
have to send them instructions and written instructions. Sometimes you have to specify,
I mean there are tasks, numerous tasks before you. You, as the manager, you as the CEO,
you as the main person at a lofty position, have to specify certain norms. And, there
are also times when you have to evaluate and there are chances of evaluation. Evaluation
of a certain task which has been done by a group, by an individual, by a team.
Now, when you evaluate what do you do? Do you not write? You write, you actually write
and you want to tell people that this process that you have given, this report that you
have submitted, this recommendation that you have given does not appear. Now, how to write
that? Actually, when you are evaluating you actually are listening also and sometimes
or the other you have a task to persuade. Suppose, you want to launch a new product
in the market, your company wants to launch a new product in the market. And, they have
actually given you the task of writing a sales letter or writing a brochure or creating a
say a sort of guidelines. So, what do you do? You actually start writing in such a manner
that you can persuade, you know all individuals can be persuaded, persuade ability is an art.
But, there are also occasions because as I said that if you are a working professional
or you are going to work in organizations, you have got different assignments and for
different assignments, you have to write differently. To concede and apologize sometimes something
went wrong, because of somebody’s lapse, because of your lapse because of some misunderstanding.
So, again you are going to write in such a manner that not only are you going to apologize,
but you are also going to concede. Sometimes you do not agree with somebody’s statement,
you do not agree with somebody’s proposal. In that case, you also have to protest, but
my dear friends whatever you want to say, it has actually to be clothed in language.
Actually the use of language is a very challenging task.
Thus, in the first lecture, we have talked about the aims of writing prior to understanding
what writing is and how many of us want to be writers, but we do not start. I hope the
first lecture has created in you a desire to write. Since time is at our disposal and
we have many more lectures to deliver, I think we will have to stop here. And, then in the
second lecture, we shall be talking about how writing is an art and how we can make
it effective to our own advantage and to everyone’s delight and not to anyone’s sorrow.
Thank you very much.
Auto Scroll