Abid Hussain
ACCORDING to an ancient history Encyclopedia, “the early writing was called cuneiform and consisted of making specific marks in wet clay with a reed implement can be traced in 3500-3000 BC in Sumer, Southern Mesopotamia present Iraq”. Surah al-Qalam, on the other hand, is the sixty-eighth chapter of the Holy Quran narrated as “Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe”. A pen is a powerful tool for writing, albeit, writing has been revived into too many shapes.
Present writing owe to Lewis Edson Waterman, who invented fountain pen in 1883, writing has become proactive since that time when Lazlo Biro a Hungarian inventor invented ball-point for usage of underwater during the second war, writing got popularity till 1943.Meanwhile, it was an immediate hit in writing of Biro’s new invention and did not leak at high altitude. Ball-point was orchestrated for new revolution in writing skills. The first ever computer built in 1948 named Manchester Mark I, was stored and processed information very quickly by use of an electronic transistor.
Writing skills is an art which expresses one’s own views; one can amalgamate a few sentences together to communicate one’s thoughts. Everyone wants to be a good writer; however, skills are required for great writing. To improve writing one needs to start with mastering different mini-skills. Experts have practiced good tactics to improve their writing skills. For a good writer, the very first step is to enhance vocabulary and try to use them in a different style to make good sentence; a sparkling sentence makes your writing skill more efficient. Writing explicitly means to express not to impress. Usage of bombastic words in writing without coherence and accuracy will not make one a prolific writer. Grammatically correct sentences will beautify the writing and will make reader more obsessed with reading making writing lucid and fluent.
It needs to be brought home choosing captivating words and avoiding bland phrases are prerequisite for writing. To make readers pre-occupied with writing try to play with-mini-stories. Keep yourself away from mobile for 20-30 minutes on a daily basis and try to write new ideas and read them again and again, this practice will certainly develop writing skills more sophisticated. Sphere some time from your busy schedule for writing and try to write for sometime each day. Try to publish a piece of content every week and make yourself accountable for such practice. Make a draft before writing properly, in this case, you may edit and format after reading them thoroughly. Edit writing constantly to eschew errors.
Make your content more clear and lucid because mediocre writing bores the readers to tears. Nourishing contents engage, inspire and delight readers to read them comprehensively. Try to help your readers in nourishing contents rather to make them more complicated. Try to advise your reader more precisely and practically by demonstrating your tips. Advice should be more practical by demonstrating your tips through arguments. One can also quote an expert’s saying in sentences to increase the interest of readers. Share informative pieces to take a deeper look at your topic. Readers always get advice, comfort and inspiration from good content and try to quench their thirst with solid ideas. Serve your readers with mix nourishing contents in the right way to make them crave more. Use attention-grabbing headlines or key headings which help reader to get an idea. Convert big topics to simple words for inspirational ideas.
Read books extensively for enhancement of knowledge and concrete ideas. Summarizing long sentences in short ones will make writing more fascinating. Avoid lengthy paragraph in writings. Don’t over-explain everything. Writer has to communicate message or advice in simple words. Proof reading is as essential as air we breathe, without proofreading one would fine innumerable mistakes in writing. In proofreading, you can polish your mistakes. Establish a writing routine and stick to it.
As the saying goes “a listener is a good speaker and a good reader is a great writer.” Editor’s critics group ought to be joined for improvement of writing. One can join such platform for valuable input from the experts. Use powerful verbs. Avoid adverbs. Listen to the experts. Try to avoid passive voice in sentences. One of the most common manifestations of bad writing is an overuse of the passive voice. Practice makes improvement. To sum up, writing is half knowledge; great intellectuals are gauged by their writing.
— The writer is working as Library Officer in Institute of Strategic Studies, a think-think based in Islamabad.
