Write to Be Understood

Don't write to impress your readers. Write so they will understand you. If you communicate well, you will impress them.

Good content clearly presented is always more impressive than language that is flowery but unclear.

Writing is different from preaching.

One of the main reasons articles are turned down for religious publications is they are too "preachy." Good preachers are not frequently also good writers. The reason? The two mediums are very different. They are different in several ways. I'll share one obvious one here.

This is an oversimplification but it will help you get the picture. In writing, you cut, cut, cut; you can never cut enough. In preaching, you add, add, add; you can never add enough—even after the sermon begins. At least this is how sermons used to be and how they are still in many traditional churches. You can't afford extra words in writing. You don't have a captive audience. Draw them in, get to the point, and give them a great conclusion.

And don't write it like you'd preach it.

Use a fresh approach.

Most of the stories in the Bible have been told in writing innumerable times. That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell them again. It does means you'll have to get creative. If you’re writing on one of the parables of Jesus or about the walls of Jericho, you need to write with fresh insight or a novel approach. Tell it in such a way that it will stand out.

Say something worthwhile.

"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact." —George Eliot

Indispensable to writing right is to have something to say. There are two types of poor writing: poor style, good content; good style, poor content. Another way to say it is: great writing that doesn’t say anything; a great story that is not told well. Of the two, it is better to have poor writing style and have something worth saying than to say nothing well. Editors are not essentially looking for good writing, but good content, well written. But they can fix poor writing if there is a valuable message. Be sure your writing says something. If it doesn't, flowery language can't fix it and it should be dumped.