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Key points
- Good writing doesn't demonstrate; it communicates.
- Writers should be aware of a reader's energy, and make sure not to waste it.
- There are no hard-and-fast rules to good writing; instead, there are tools that writers can use as needed.
Seven years ago, I could neither read nor write in English; my native language is Arabic. When I arrived in the United States in May 2016 to pursue higher education, I needed a translator at the airport because I could not answer basic immigration questions.
After I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Miami, I was fortunate to attend what I consider the best graduate school in the world: The University of Pennsylvania. In this Ivy League space, my non-native English proved to be insufficient.
In a meeting that came to define my time at Penn, one of my professors aggressively scolded my non-native prose. He essentially told me that I had to visit the campus disability office to fix my inferior writing.
I was furious. In an effort to channel my anger, I decided that I would become one of the best non-native English writers in the world. To this end, I decided to read as many books as I could on the topic of good prose. At this point, I feel I have surveyed the literature almost in its entirety; I have reached a saturation point, where ideas sound repetitive. Yet in all the "classic" books on writing, I did not find what I was looking for.
When I fortuitously stumbled across the work of Professor George Gopen, I felt that I had finally found a way to crack the “code” of the English language. I first read his magnum opus, Expectations: Teaching Writing from the Reader’s Perspective, and then its sequel, The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective. Reading Gopen’s prose was a transformative revelation for me.
After reading most or perhaps even all of what Gopen has published, I emailed and asked him to be my writing mentor. To my surprise and delight, he agreed, and has personally invested in my learning: He has taught me how to "swing" in writing and make the swinging worthwhile.
We met via Zoom for almost a year, discussing nothing but English prose. I pride myself on being a serious mentee, and Gopen was a brilliant mentor. Since he took me under his wing, I feel that I've blossomed as a non-native English writer. Thus far, I have published almost 100 articles and essays, in both commercial publications and professional and academic journals—a proven track record.
I will share Gopen's key lessons below: The Elements of Reader Expectations. The title is inspired, of course, by The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, in which they shared their articles of faith in how English prose operates. Following in their footsteps, I hereby share the articles of faith of the Gopen method. (I would encourage interested readers to peruse his books and papers for themselves—or even better, attend one of his transformative lectures.)
1. Do not demonstrate; instead, communicate.
Gopen makes a distinction between the mere demonstration of information and the skillful communication of knowledge. In demonstration, the writer is concerned with avoiding mistakes; in communication, the writer is concerned with the rhetorical task of persuasion.
Most writing assignments in school follow the demonstration model, which may explain why so many students struggle to produce persuasive prose. The Gopen method teaches writers to communicate rather than to demonstrate. Gopen teaches writers how readers experience prose on the page so that they can communicate their knowledge in ways that readers are going to interpret them.
2. Use the "litmus test of good writing."
According to Gopen, the "litmus test" of good writing is one straightforward question: Did the reader receive what the writer was trying to send? If the answer was yes, then the writing was good. If the answer was no, then the writing was bad.
The quality of the writing, therefore, is not determined by its elegance alone. Instead, it is determined by whether or not it accomplishes its rhetorical purpose. Did the writer affect readers in the way they intended? Did the writer come across in the way they planned?
3. No rules, but tools.
Gopen has one rule: No rules. That is, he believes that there are no rules in good writing. There are only tools that can be deployed to achieve certain rhetorical effects.
Rules are stultifying. Tools are liberating. Rules often stifle the creativity of writers; tools give writers the agency to experiment until they find their writerly voice. Good writers know what tools to use to achieve the intended rhetorical effects on their readers.
4. Be aware of "reader energy."
Readers summon a type of mental, called "reader energy," to experience prose. Good writers are careful not to waste this.
In the Gopen method, good writers express sophisticated ideas in simple prose, which means they write sentences that are easy to read—even when the concepts are complicated. Readers should not waste their energy figuring out what the writer is trying to say; instead, they should spend that energy to assess the strength of the writer’s ideas.
5. Good writing has two hallmarks.
According to Gopen, good prose has two hallmarks: First, every single word has a clear function; second, every single word is located in the appropriate position within the sentence and paragraph. By ensuring that the prose has these two hallmark qualities, writers produce clear, powerful, and elegant prose.
6. Avoid "splat prose."
Gopen describes disconnected prose as "splat prose," wherein writers simply demonstrate information but do not communicate any insightful connections. The opposite of splat prose is prose that connects backward, moves forward, and places keywords in their most useful position. That is writing transformed.
Bad writers deliver readers splat prose, in which the connections between the sentences are ambiguous. Good writers make the connections between sentences and paragraphs explicitly clear.
7. Write musical sentences.
Gopen shares that everything he learned about writing comes from his long-time obsession with classical music. He discovered “colometrics,” a method by which to analyze prose rhythm. Just like musical notes have a structural rhythm to them, Gopen claims, so too do written sentences have a structural rhythm and cadence.
Good sentences, then, have a pleasant rhythm to them, with a particular sound and cadence. Bad sentences violate the explicit and implicit conventions of rhythm. Prose rhythm is implicitly experienced by readers, but Gopen makes its production explicit for writers.
8. Readers should know where to look for what.
Good writers meet readers' expectations most of the time—but violate them occasionally for effect. Readers understand the meaning of prose not from the meaning of words but rather from the order of words. That is the most revolutionary insight in the entire Gopen tradition. Good writers put the appropriate substance in the right structure.
