4. Basic Principles of Writing

Compare these two paragraphs - even though both contain almost the same information, which one is better and why? How these sentences are connected, how the unity of content is established...

I live in a flat at the outskirts of Belgrade. I like my view from the balcony. We have been living there for two years. I have a daughter. This summer, I took her to the seaside. My daughter and wife took the plane, and I travelled by bus. The trip took longer, but was much cheaper.

Me and my wife bought our first flat two years ago and we enjoy living in it. It is situated at the outskirts of Belgrade, not far from the right shore of Danube. Even though the river is barely visible from the balcony, one can feel its scent and we also have a beautiful view of the surrounding hills. Since we got our daughter, we spend every minute of our free time with her here, expect in the summer when we go together to the seaside. We are very satisfied with our neighbourhood and we hope to stay here for many more years.

1. It may precisely express ideas

3. It may complicate simple ideas

2. It may complicate complex ideas

The problems of philosophy as usually dealt with are of very different kinds. From the point of view which I am here taking we may distinguish mainly three kinds of problems and doctrines in traditional philosophy. For the sake of simplicity we shall call these parts Metaphysics, Psychology, and Logic. Or, rather, there are not three distinct regions, but three sorts of components which in most theses and questions are combined: a metaphysical, a psychological, and a logical component.

The considerations that follow belong to the third region: we are here carrying out Logical Analysis. The function of logical analysis is to analyse all knowledge, all assertions of science and of everyday life, in order to make clear the sense of each such assertion and the connections between them. One of the principal tasks of the logical analysis of a given proposition is to find out the method of verification for that proposition. The question is: What reasons can there be to assert this proposition; or: How can we become certain as to its truth or falsehood? This question is called by the philosophers the epistemological question; epistemology or the philosophical theory of knowledge is nothing other than a special part of logical analysis, usually combined with some psychological questions concerning the process of knowing.

What, then, is the method of verification of a proposition? Here we have to distinguish between two kinds of verification: direct and indirect. If the question is about a proposition which asserts something about a present perception, e.g. "Now I see a red square on a blue ground," then the proposition can be tested directly by my present perception. If at present I do see a red square on a blue ground, the proposition is directly verified by this seeing; if I do not see that, it is disproved.

Rudolf Carnap, Philosophy as Logical Syntax (1935)

If repetition is the mother of all learning,

revision is the mother of all writing

Basic rules of writing

Constructing a paragraph

The filmmakers have a saying that the movie is made in the edit room. So, if you think that your writing is over when you put the final dot, be sure that it is certainly not the case.

Now comes the editing part. So, check:

1. If now, after all that you wrote, your introduction actually adequately announces the content of your piece (usually this is not the case, so the introduction needs to be revised).

2. Does your conclusion contain your key points or essence of everything that is written?

3. Are your paragraphs well organised, that is, are all your arguments in order?

(if you organised your text well, every paragraph will have a central statement, so that, if you take them all out, they should contain your main arguments).

What every text needs to have?

A great Irish writer James Joyce one said that the art of writing consists of writing sentences.

One could paraphrase this and say that the secret of good writing is to write good paragraphs.

Think about a paragraph as a separate unit of text. A paragraph is a separate little world – at the beginning announce its content or basic question. Each sentence that follows should add something or contain some new information. The direction of presenting should be - from familiar to unfamiliar, from known to unknown, from old to new. End paragraph with a conclusion. Sentences should be connected by a logical order.

All writing follows certain logic or principles.

A text typically needs to have an INTRODUCTION, MAIN BODY AND CONCLUSION, or head, body and legs (foundation).

IN THE INTRODUCTION you should say what you are writing about, i.e. what is your topic, claim or argument.

IN THE MAIN BODY you should present the arguments that back up your thesis or claim.

In principle, put separate arguments as separate paragraphs.

What do you think that the ratio between these parts should be?

1. Precisely expressed complex ideas

What can writing do?

Complicated simple ideas

Complicated complex ideas

Basic principles of a written work

... BUT, WE CAN BOIL IT DOWN TO THREE FUNDAMENTAL THINGS WRITING CAN DO

Essentially, basic underlying structure encompasses all writing. Same logic applies to a story, academic book, and article. Of course, these various forms of writing differ in many ways as well, in terms of length, complexity, depth.

Every written text has a certain logic i.e. principle.