This question was posed in a LinkedIn group for writers some weeks ago, and when I saw it I though, “Huh?”
Since I didn’t know how to respond except with a counter question, I didn’t. You see, havng sampled a piece of someone else’s written work, I just mark off the box “like,” “dislike,” or “disinterested” without looking into any further distinctions.
But when we do look closer at an individual writer, how do we decide his or her merit?
The traditional attempts refer to grade level. But they say you shouldn’t really write beyond that of a seventh- or even fifth-grade level to reach the common audience, so… is a higher grade level of writing somehow less desirable? Or more?
Is it a relative measure? I don’t think it’s fair to compare today’s English writers to Shakespeare or Byron. The playwrights and poets of today hardly speak the same King’s English they did.
There’s no doubting the marked difference in reading experiences between an experienced and inexperienced writer. You’ll notice the almost instinctually formulaic devices appearing again and again in the former, where they’re irregular and sputtering in the latter.
There’s a notable distinction in the work of a natural and awkward writer. You’ll notice more of a willingness to experiment and play in the former, while the latter tiptoes within the black-and-white lines of convention.
So there are levels in these two instances because the inexperienced writer can become experienced, and the awkward writer can find a natural voice, and in both instances there’s a “vertical” movement toward improvement. But I’m not finding it any easier to define levels beyond the most broad.
At least, not when it comes to judging other writers.
You see, I know my own writing has developed over time and experience. But whether it’s on a “higher level” than it was–what last year? Last week? I’m entirely incapable of judging, because of the startling fact that every time I write a piece, I’m beginning with the same building blocks I did when I learned to write so many years ago.
And sometimes, it shows.
But that brings me back to my reaction to styles as a reader: “like,” “dislike,” or “disinterested.” It’s hard to argue with someone like that. Because to them, you have either succeeded or failed to communicate. There is no level.
How would you measure and determine levels of writing? Do you think it matters to your audience?
Photo credit: Joel Abroad, courtesy Flickr, CC 2.0.
I think as a writer, you need to take into consideration the audience. If I’m writing an article or whitepaper for business executives, I don’t think my writing would be at a 5th or 6th grade level. If I’m writing a newspaper article, I would write at a 5th-6th grade level. I’ve read that reporters write for a ‘general’ audience with a 5th grade level.
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Hi, Amanda,
Yes, for specific audiences, your writing level will adjust itself. So perhaps one indication of writing level is the ability to slide up or down levels?
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
I do not necessarily use a writing prompt. I put ideas down as they come to be often prompted by something I hear on TV, overheard conversation, something on the news, etc. This word that i picked up becomes the focus of an article and it flows from there.
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I have to disagree with the “grade level” portion of this. As a high school and college writing teacher (and former freelance writer for a local newspaper), a 5th or 6th grade writing level is not at what publications are generally written. Unless you are talking about sentence structure, but word choice and meaning is often at least high school level…even in public newspapers such as The Grand Rapids Press (the publication most of my students read).
Writing “level” is tricky…because other than “grade level” (which is not even used anymore in schools), how do you decide on the levels?
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In terms of grade level, I don’t think the vocabulary will be the same, but when explaining astrophysics to adults who are unfamiliar with it, often the sentence structure and vocabulary needs to be more universal. But your question is mine: how to choose where to measure and mark a level?
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
Shakirah, I would disagree with one assertion in your article. There are writers today that I would liken to modern versions of Shakespeare and Byron and their ilk. Screenplay writers such as Akiva Goldsman for his work on “A Beautiful Mind”, Marc Norman and Todd Stoddard for “Shakespeare in Love” (a little bit cheating because they were influenced by the Bard’s work a great deal), and quite a few contemporary authors such as Salinger, Tolkien, McCaffery, Heinlien. As for your “level” of writing, I would have to say you are correct in viewing this from each individual reader point of view. You either like, dislike or are disinterested in what a particular writer writes. The reader is the ultimate decision maker on how good an author is. I love James Ptterson’s work. But I would not put him up with Dostoevsky. Like, dislike, disinterested. Well and simply put.
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That’s my point, too, Charles; I think so many of today’s authors who mirror the classics have “borrowed” quite a bit from them…
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
I think it really matters to your target audience in my opinion. You can’t write academically if your audience is the casual, ordinary people. Do you think that level of writing is relative to audience too?
Thanks for posing this argument. Good time to think!
-Brett
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Brett, I don’t think the level you choose to write at for an audience doesn’t have to do with what level you’re actually at, yourself. But flexibility in levels seems to be something writers at higher levels would be good at…
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
Shakirah – As a literary scholar and rhetorician, I absolutely believe we can determine at what level a writer is functioning. And that has zero relation to the grade level at which a writer has written.
It does, as you and several of your commenters have noted, have to do with the audience. More importantly it has to do with the members of that audience who are most sophisticated, the decision-makers as it were.
A skilled writer in any subject area is capable of eliciting the desired result. On a blog, that means getting people to comment. On Twitter, that means generating mentions and RTs, or on Facebook, likes and shares. In a scientific journal article, that is gaining acceptance for a hypothesis. And in literature, that is evoking a thought, feeling, or experience that transcends space and time.
There are always audience members who will disagree. And each person is entitled to his or her own opinion. But at the end of the day, it is those who take action (or not) on a piece of writing who will determine whether it has done its job. And that is the ultimate measure of a writer’s success.
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Hi, Michelle,
Thanks for hitting on the fact that there definitely are writers, but they don’t relate to any conventional measure. When I said “dislike,” I didn’t mean disagree here, because I agree people will disagree–but it’s a different thing to dislike a writer’s delivery of a point than to disagree with it. Someone might disagree because that writer hasn’t communicated clearly, or they might disagree because that writer has been exceptionally clear. So yes, I think in the end it does come down to the ability to communicate to the audience at hand–and for many of us independent writing pros, that can be a wide variety of people.
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
Well, it’s very difficult to evaluate your own opportunities or level of writing… I personally can’t do it with easiness. But the idea is very interesting!
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I can’t imagine evaluating a “level” for myself, as well. I know what I’m capable of writing from experience, and what I’m capable of writing from ability standpoint, though. From there, I suppose a level could be extrapolated, if we really tried.
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”
Oops, meant to add the “h” at the end of your name, Amandah.
Shakirah Dawud recently posted..Why Your Business Should Be Terrified Of “Dumb Pipe Syndrome”