Lessons about Writing in the Works of Various Artists Essay -- essays

Most recently, I have read several powerful essays in Exploring Language, by Gary Goshgarian, which give straightforward advice about becoming a better writer. One such essay is ?Writing for an Audience,? by Linda Flower. She believes that a good piece of writing closes the gap between the reader and the writer. Another essay that I will be looking at is Getting Started,? by Anne Lamott. She believes that good writing is about telling the truth. Patricia T. O?Conner wrote an interesting essay titled ?Saying is Believing.? In it, she tells us that a good writer is one that you can read without breaking a sweat. Which leads me to the final essay that has helped influence my writing style, ?How to Write with Style,? by Kurt Vonnegut. He contends that your own winning style must begin with ideas in your mind. The essays written by Flower, Lamott, O?Conner and Vonnegut have supplied me with a multitude of lessons and advice, so that I may improve my writing skills and engage my reader better. The first thing that struck me as important is that the writing style must change to meet the different needs and demands of the individual reader. Linda Flower states in her essay, ?Writing for an Audience,? that ?a good piece of writing closes the gap between you and the reader? (156). Before I knew this, I tended to write for an audience of robots, while I now understand that my reader?s have unique faces and personalities of their own. In her essay, Ms. Flower gives concise explanations of my audience?s needs. What does my reader?s need to know? Can they easily digest what I am writing about? What is my audience?s attitude towards my subject matter? For example, I?m going to write an essay about my dog. First, I need to d... ...l quickly loose interest and almost immediately toss my work aside for something more thought provoking. My goal is to continue learning how to improve my writing. Each essay brought valuable information that I will continue to use throughout my college years and beyond. I found it intriguing that some of the essays conveyed the same lesson, an example, ?Writing With Style,? Mr. Vonnegut stresses that language is very important within an essay, Ms Flower concurs with this advice in ?Writing for an Audience.? The essays written by Flower, Lamott, O?Conner and Vonnegut have supplied me with a multitude of lessons and advice so that I may improve my writing skills and engage my reader better. In conclusion, I would like to say with Patricia O?Conner that, ?[a] good writer can express an extremely complicated idea clearly and make the job look effortless? (180).