When I first began to write… I don’t mean write but I mean move in the direction of prose as opposed to poetry and I wanted to shift my work from nothing more than a personal narrative to the wider world, I began with Expository Writing.
Expository Writing:
A term for any form of writing that conveys information and explains ideas.
As one of the four traditional modes of discourse, expository writing may include elements of narration, description and argumentation, but unlike creative writing or persuasive writing, its primary goal is to deliver information about an issue, subject, method, or idea.
In other words– Just the facts, ma’am. Expository writing helps you cut the fluff. It is a practice that teaches you how to say what you need to say in as few words as possible while still imbuing those words with meaning and yes, even pathos.
As my favorite writing teacher frequently repeated: “Why use a fifty dollar word when a fifty cent word will do?”
To put it simply, he was right. (Write?)
If there is one thing I would advise any would-be or hopeful writer to do it is to take an Expository Writing class. Look online, check out a local community college, a writers conference. See what’s available.
Expository writing is the first step to concise gripping resounding prose.
icanwriteanythingblog 