Think of the tragedies that are rooted in ambiguity, and be clear! When you say something, make sure you have said it. Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a misplaced phrase in a well-intentioned letter, anguish of a traveler expecting to be met at a railroad station and not being met because of a slipshod telegram. Usually what is wrong is that the construction has become too involved at some point the sentence needs to be broken apart and replaced by two or more shorter sentences. When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh do not try to fight your way through against the terrible odds of syntax. Even to a writer who is being intentionally obscure or wild of tongue we can say, "Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!" Even to writers of market letters, telling us (but not telling us) which securities are promising, we can say, "Be cagey plainly! Be elliptical in a straightforward fashion!"Ĭlarity, clarity, clarity. And although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one. But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue.
There are occasions when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are writers whose mien is more overcast than clear. Below are two rules from Strunk and White's classic writing guide.Ĭlarity is not the prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of a good style.
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