THE SINCERE VACUUM CLEANER: CREDIBILITY AND GOOD WRITING

 Sincerity has everything to do with the reasons for writing well.—Donald Hall, Writing Well

Sincerity [in writing] is the absence of “noise” or static—the ability or courage not to hide the real message.—Peter Elbow

The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.—George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"

A few years back, my lady and I were shopping for a vacuum cleaner. We found one at Target that was the right price and, at first glance, seemed pretty much what we needed. Then I began reading the details on the box it came in. The vacuum was still the right price and still had all the right features, but the writing on the packaging exaggerated the product’s virtues; it also had typos and grammar errors. We bought a different vacuum—one that was properly proofread, fully grammatical, and sincere. It works fine.

      The message sent by the packaging on that first vacuum was not the one the writer intended. Instead of “this is a good vacuum cleaner,” the message sent was “the people who make this vacuum cleaner are manipulative and either careless or incompetent.” I couldn’t trust an insincere, ungrammatical, poorly proofed vacuum.

Buy only a sincere, grammatical, well-proofed vacuum cleaner.

      To be effective, writing must establish trust. That is, it must make the readers believe in the writer. They must believe that the writer is honest, sincere, and free of ulterior motives. They must believe that the writer is competent, intelligent, and reasonable. They must believe that the writer has their best interests in mind—whether that be to entertain them, enlighten them, instruct them, or tell them truthfully why they’re being fired. In other words, the writer must, on many levels, be credible. This is true of the personal essay, the business letter, the corporate report, the news article, the magazine ad, the poem, and even, I believe, the short story and the novel.

      To achieve that necessary credibility, you can’t fake it as a writer. You have to be honest, sincere, competent, and so on. You must trust your own motives, you must believe in what you’re saying (and the importance of saying it), and you must try to find the most honest way to say it. You can’t hide the real message behind the noise of pretension, pomposity, or manipulation.

      Here are some ways to establish and protect your credibility:

DO believe in what you’re saying and the importance of saying it.

DO have the courage to seek and speak the truth as you best can understand it. (Finding that truth is sometimes the hardest work in writing—and usually the most rewarding.)

DO get your facts correct.

DO argue rationally and honestly.

DO acknowledge, respect, and answer counterarguments and admit weaknesses in your own position.

DO use proper grammar and helpful punctuation. Otherwise, you’ll seem both incompetent and inconsiderate.

DO use clear, plain, precise language. Otherwise, your reader will think you’re trying to hide something.

DO give relevant examples, concrete illustrations, and hard facts to support your claims.

DO look for your own fresh way to say things.

Abe's honesty helped make him a good writer.

    

DON’T write just to fill space or fulfill someone else’s expectations. (Even an assignment for English class should be as honest as a heartfelt love letter.)

DON’T use jargon or inflated language. (Note “use,” not “utilize.”)

DON’T manipulate your readers’ emotions dishonestly.

DON’T warp the meaning of words. (Bombing a village is not the same as “pacifying” it, and a person isn’t a “fascist” just because he disagrees with you.)

DON’T exaggerate, except for humorous effect.

DON’T use exclamation points, except for rare instances of sincere strong emotion.

DON’T hide behind unsupported generalities, foggy abstractions, empty claims, feckless clichés, or the passive voice.

Follow these rules, and you have a chance to be a credible writer—the only kind of writer worth reading. You might also sell a lot of vacuum cleaners.

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Aristotle claimed that ethos, logos, and  pathos were the key elements of effective rhetoric.

(Note: The idea that a writer or speaker must have credibility to be persuasive goes back at least as far as Aristotle. He called the concept “ethos.” If you’re interested in his other advice, look up “logos” and “pathos.” More on those in future posts.)

(Second note: Don’t confuse “sincere” with “solemn.” You can be perfectly sincere while trying to make your readers laugh.)