Being Derailed from the Classic Writing Path - Essay Example

Fowler, in “The King’s English”, wrote: “But a more candid plea for the journalist, and one not without weight, would be that he has not time to reduce what he wishes to say into a simple and concrete form. It is in fact as much easier for him to produce, as it is harder for his reader to understand, the slipshod abstract stuff that he does rest content with. But it may be suspected that he often thinks the length of his words and his capacity for dealing in the abstract to be signs of a superior mind.

” (Fowler:n.p.) Obviously, this does not constitute a classic writing style. A new writer should not resort to using complex words and ideas to merely impress his readers and be thought of as wise and smart. That would be plain arrogance, which is not within the framework of classic writing. It is alright to be lyrical when one writes, but not to the extent that it is only he who can understand what he has written. It defeats the purpose of writing as a form of communication. Similarly, Strunk and White, in “The Elements of Style”, add another common mistake in classic style writing:  “A common way to fall into wordiness is to present a single complex idea, step by step, in a series of sentences that might advantage be combined into one.

” (28). Why take the trouble of dividing a thought into several sentences when it can suffice in just one? Chopping an idea into several sentences makes reading it less smooth-flowing due to the multiple starts and stops. Classic writing style should be comfortable to read, without any hidden agenda to make it difficult for readers to understand.