Are Indians better English writers than Americans?

Awhile ago I posted about how you need an American copy editor or proofreader, rather than someone from India, because only an American native speaker can make your writing smooth, clear, and natural. Today I'm changing my position.

I've been reading through the articles on article databases (I'm on articlebase.com now). These are sites where writers 'dump' content in the hopes that other website owners will 'syndicate' or copy their article, providing a link back to whatever content or website the original author choose, thus helping their online business or affiliate sales.

I'm looking for articles about writing or editing to put on my main editing website. And I've been surprised. Most of the articles by Americans are mediocre at best and full of spelling mistakes. And some of the articles by Indian authors are amazing. Jaw dropping. I'm reading articles on 'loan applications' or 'property appraisals' and the writing is so freaking good, I want to put it straight into a literary novel masterpiece.

Listen to this:

Taming The Book Proposal, Author: Vishwajeet

Oh, that most maddening of documents! For so many of us eager to move forward with our nonfiction projects, it looms large like a guard at the queen’s castle, blocking the path to publication. Its perfection eludes us yet it stands there teasing, “Complete me, or your manuscript will never see the light of day, mwahahahaha!”

Is that great or what?! Ironically, I usually caution writers to keep it simple, take out their big words and long sentences - but this is only because the average American writer can't write well and is sure to mess it up.

Things are looking down for America; either because of poor education or laziness, writing skill have plummeted. Even people with the inclination and desire to publish a book write poorly! Most likely they're reading crap or online articles only while Indians are reading classics and philosophy; that's my bet.

I don't care either way; now I know who to turn to if I need really great writing done.

The Virtues of Writing - a fantastic essay on writing

**I found this rather strange article on writing by (I'm assuming) an Indian guy writing articles for pay. His 5 essays on 'articlebase.com' are mostly about loans and property. I don't know how much he charges, but he's a brilliant writer and there's something very literary about this essay. If you need very good, original content or articles, look him up. Personally, I'd like to hire him to ghostwrite a novel.**

Author: Shivanshu Bhugra

Writing becomes a necessity when the worthier elements of life like love and joy, become pursuits instead of possessions. Those who like to mouth ‘I love to write’ might as well have ‘loved to bungee jump’. So often, writing is an escape rather than a commitment, an alternative rather than a motive, a hobby rather than an involvement.

The difference between writing, when writing is the object of a desire, and writing, when it is the dearth of one, is similar to the difference between consuming food through your mouth or your nostrils. One is precise; the other is either foolhardy or deliberate.

A failure in one’s life is an achievement in one’s vanities. A hurt pride resorts to dissimilar paths of self-absorption eluding the one that confronts its vulnerabilities. Those who fail as intellectuals, rise as diplomats, but never cede to be individuals – because compliance with circumstances defeats the purport of the indomitable convictions of man, so likely, we forge more humane opportunities. Opportunities that are severely consistent, ripe and simple. Opportunities like writing.
Once again, take notice – Any man can breathe. Any man can disembowel liquid. Any man can write.

The object of scrutiny when two things are placed in contrasting contest is not spurious triumph, but progress through aptitude. Sometimes, it is essential to lose, and sometimes it is downright pivotal; it is forever substantial to remember that neither is success a construct of victories, nor is it a servant of one. Success lies deep in the path of experience and often, unknowingly, people who disembowel liquid, bungee jumpers, writers - pass it demurely. It is a fervent moment writhing within several unnamed others; it cannot be achieved, it has to be a yielding harvest.

In writing, there are no discoveries, only inventions – those, that either concoct interest or intrigue. If anything in the written connotation is a function of the former, it is languid and specious. If anything, at all, as it has been a rarity for so long, compromises with the latter, it is grand, unique, most welcome, and most awaited.
Uselessness is an innate, inherent part of writing anything. Futility, you see, is perfect and the only thing that is so. Those who master it are legends, those who come across it accidentally are writers, and those who tend towards it are fools. Those who come closest are renowned as professionals.

Precision in any sort of writing is a triviality and a widowed cliché. There is no ‘bull’s eye’ in perspectives, in predilection or in opinion; it is consequential to generalize. A thing that is meant to socialize with more than a single existent word should never focus or centralize acutely. It’ll fail to stand ground, and eventually fail to impress.
The diversity one writer inures to delineate himself from another is only in an unrealized, imperfect conformity of perseverance. Hard work is an unknown realm, a world within a world, a most secret horizon of each written syllable – when we expand these realms and horizons, when we free our worlds, we can hope towards hope… to be writers. A just and lively hope to be good writers, and if not, efficient in the least.

There is still a last truth to reckon with, again and again, until it is defunct and old and as gray as cement stripping off naked walls –
Any man can breathe. Any man can disembowel liquid. Any man can write.
Learn to survive it.

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - The Crusades Of Writing

Online dissertation writing services - BEWARE

In browsing articles on good writing for my site, I came across this fantastic article about online dissertation writing services. If you're writing your dissertation, thesis, essay or other big research project, it may have crossed your mind to just let somebody else do it. Hell, it's a lot of work and for most people, only a requirement to get a degree. While I sympathize, and have no ethical issues with paying for online writing services that can crank out your dissertation, the following article offers a severe warning against them. Why? Because, while promoting such services, the article is itself terribly written. It's almost indecipherable - which is, in my experience, what you may get if you pay for a service to write your dissertation for you. I've edited dissertations and theses that have been written by such services (the students want me to 'clean them up') however they were so filled with plagiarism it was nearly impossible. Read the following before you pay for a dissertation writing service.

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Why do students find theses services through the Internet Why are not students who can write a study on their ownWhy do most students rely on the internet works jobs for more titles Well just to answer all the above questions, they would reduce their workload, but they can be distinguished, but did not have enough time to write essays about their own writing, and online services provide an excellent dissertation dissertation help you achieve better grades.

To get help from online dissertation writing services is as easy as the answer, and it has become common practice among most students. Internet services, writing essay is often written, depending on your qualifications, and on this subject, which is suited to your attention. The whole thesis is written by professional authors and is a true cross-checking copy. This assistance is primarily a student, because they have different and creative essays, for which they must pay some reasonable amount as a fee. Specialist writers, working in a network of such sites have extensive knowledge and vast resources on any topic, and are capable enough to ensure that you really need.

The team consists of specialists from people from all areas in which these online research writing services can write on any subject offered with excellence and professionalism. They have the skills to move in the direction of their work, which are clearly reflected in the essays submitted. The expert writers start from the very start of zero, where they write a result and give a wonderful result. Students writing services who can not write the thesis on its own because of limited time, for example, a lack of talent or because of a hectic day can take care of theses services network, which offer greater assistance to needy students at reasonable fees.

You get a few of these works online services that provide you with high quality work, and long before that time, in order to help you to check your abstract carefully. I choose online dissertation writing service can be very difficult, as some may simply print already published dissertation, and thus you may encounter with a great embarrassment to your colleagues and teachers. To select genuine online essay service you want to check on money back guarantee and plagiarism Free Report, the next important point is the selection of online service services, which employs only well trained professionals who know all the facts on how to write a thesis.

If youre happy with both of the conditions, then you can freely choose what to write theses online service, and start with your work. With the entire in mind, the student will no doubt get help to write your essay on the fine and get level with advanced degrees. These networks are writing theses services not only provide you with impeccable dissertation, but also give you a firm support in the event of any arguments that may arise during the course. To get the power and creativity are well studied in the dissertation a few dollars, and your treasure trove.

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Is your writing mentally retarded?

Recently I've been editing some very bad writing. I'm patient, and caring, and meticulous; and I understand that the author has worked very hard, but at the same time I can't help comparing the writing to a historical trend of failing education and suffered grammar skills.

The vast majority of modern English speakers have very poor writing skills; and the vast majority of English speakers writing books also have very poor writing skills! Maybe this is because the well-educated, linguistically gifted among us have stable jobs and families and don't hunger so desperately for that American dream of writing a book and making a fortune in supplemental income. Maybe the recession is bringing out all the crazies from under the woodwork; who have the brilliant and inspired goal of educating mankind in the things that they themselves have come to realize like:
1) With hard work and passion, you can do anything.
2)....
That seems to be about all they've come up with so far.

In one book I'm editing, the author is using Abraham Lincoln as an example for his perseverance. During Abe's time (and about a century before and after his death) people who wrote for publication or wrote things that other people would read were nearly universally excellent writers and speakers. I mean, freaking fantastic. AWESOME.

If they got their hands on the book I'm editing now, they would have thought it was the product of a deranged man, an unlearned child, or an imbecile. A large part of the problem is that authors are recycling without reading anything for themselves (I'm guessing this author, while referring to the Gettysburg address, has never actually read it.) Although self-help gurus will use examples of superior men, they don't read the writings of these great men which they are recommending.

Is there a cure for mentally retarded writing?
Sadly no: for one thing, trying to write a book at all shows gargantuan effort and should be praised, regardless of the outcome (although I feel like they are in for a rude awakening when they try to publish). For another, the people with poor writing skills have (as demonstrated in their writing) poor logic skills and a lack of common sense. yes they can improve, they can learn, they can take classes... and they may get good enough to write a 'chicken soup for the soul' or a 'who moved my cheese?'.

If you are a struggling author who's not getting the feedback you feel you deserve - try this: go to the library and check out a couple "Norton Anthologies of Literature". Get the American and British anthology; that's about 300 years of the best English writing known to man. Read it, study it, practice copying it. (Read for 10 minutes, then write something similar trying to use the same style. There is simply no skipping history if you want to improve your writing, and I guarantee this will produce results for you.

Do you make these common writing mistakes? 5 steps to better writing

Along with the challenge of writing any type of document is the opportunity to make yourself look good (or very bad). Great writing speaks for itself and automatically bestows grace, good fortune and success upon its author; although we live in a world with very high literacy, the sad fact is that very few people can write well, and very many write atrocious garbage that is painful to bear. Follow the following tips religiously to go from mediocre to master.

1) Get educated! READ MORE

Humans are natural mimics: the easiest way to improve your writing is to read authors whose style you appreciate; read for at least 10 minutes and then write - your writing will automatically improve. But don't read garbage. Thomas Carlyle, Benjamin Franklin, C.S. Lewis, (his letters, not Narnia), and Plato are some amazing writers for non-fiction. For fiction, read Kafka, Dostoevsky, Isabel Allende...or even Tom Clancy and Dan Brown if that's the style you hope to imitate. Reading great writing will not only improve your own writing, but also give you reference material to name drop. "As Ben Franklin said in his Autobiography" or "As Plato described in The Symposium" makes you sound smart and well-read, and adds interest to your writing.

If you're an author with a non-fiction book, step one is extremely important! As an editor, I often get non-fiction books on a subject that have clearly not read relevant literature (self-help genre is the worst offender). If you haven't read the top 100 - or even top 10 - books on the subject your are writing about, what makes you think anybody cares what you have to say? There are hundreds of thousands of books in print, and some of them are fantastic; they don't need you to sum them up or dumb them down or recycle them. Reading a lot will help you to formulate an actually new idea or opinion and avoid becoming the pale shadow of better writers.

2) Practice makes perfect! WRITE MORE

A blog is a good way to get started. Write your opinions, emotions, short conversations you had, and post them on a blog. It doesn't matter if anybody read it; it only matters that it is in the public and thus you should feel self-conscious enough to clean it up and make it better than it would otherwise be. It's easy to write in 1st person "I think, I feel..." Shake it up by writing short stories (about yourself if you want) in 3rd person, writing essays, dialogs, poems.... practice makes perfect. Too many authors decided to write a book and that book is the first real writing they've ever done!

3) Simplicity is beautiful! TONE IT DOWN

Teenagers and aspiring authors love to use big, flowery words, run-on sentences, and a mashup of allegory, metaphor and allusion. Great writers don't. Yes, English is fun, and there are lots of things you can do with it. It's fun to feel clever and throw a lot of great words around and push and pull them... but picture this kind of writing like finger painting. Sure it's vibrant and colorful, but also messy and amateurish. Learning to write is the same as learning to paint - you focus on your skill, you paint a picture that says something, and captures more than momentary interest.

If a reader may have to use a dictionary to look up your word - delete it! Use words that people know. Nothing is worse than reading an other who likes to use the same, little used phrase or word repeatedly. It draws attention and by the 50th time it's physical painful to see that word or phrase again. Simple words disappear so that readers can see what you're saying.

The other huge mark of a terrible writer is mixing metaphors. References to sports, to economic terms, sea-faring terms, cliches etc all jumbled into the same paragraph is just ugly. Remember your purpose as a writer is to explain (an idea, or a story). You are telling readers what is happening. You are telling them how to react, how to feel. They are in your hands. Be clear, consistent, organized.

As a rule, always explain first and explain early. Show what is going on. Make your main points. Explain your concept (without a bunch of references or allusions to other things)! Examples or metaphors come after you've already explained as clearly as you can, and even then there should be two at most.

(I'm editing a book right now, where the author makes one unclear statement without defining his terms, and then supports it with about 15 examples, allusions, quotes by other people and metaphors. I never know what he's really talking about or what he's trying to say; and worse his examples are all contradictory or taken out of context.)

4) Readers hate to be confused! ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS

Don't be random, don't mix metaphors, don't give examples that don't fit, or quotes that don't fit. Don't allegorize without first explaining. Have a purpose for everything you do and say; an order your readers can figure out.

The easy way to do this is with an outline; an outline is equally important for both fiction and non-fiction writers. What happens first, next, and last? How does the first effect the second and so on? Have a strong beginning and conclusion to every topic, aim, goal, scene or chapter. Finish your outline in as much detail as possible. How does this paragraph fit within the chapter? How does this chapter relate to the whole manuscript?

Everything you include must have a reason for being where it is, or for being there at all. If it doesn't fit the theme, doesn't forward the plot, doesn't help readers to understand what you're trying to get them to understand, then it's a waste of space.

Readers are interested only in what you've promised to provide (the plot/story or the topic of the book). Extra information is distracting; readers won't willingly just go along - they aren't hungry for just any random text. Keep it strong, sharp and focused.

5) There's no excuse for 'dirty' writing! EDIT

Yes, you can edit yourself (although it's hard). Take some time and space first, work on some other writing projects or read a lot of books, so you can come to it with a relatively clear mind.

How to self-edit? Look for long, winding sentences that cloud the point, end abruptly, don't make sense. Read things out loud; you should always be able to clearly and easily understand the flow of the language, like tossing a ball in the air. If you get stuck, confused, or stumble, the ball is dropped. (Read it out loud and when you stumble or slow down, there's a problem with the text).

Read your quotes and dialogs. They should be clear and natural - as if they were really spoken. If they sound like "writing" rather than speech (something somebody would actually say) then change them.

Look for repetition, especially repeating the same uncommon words or phrases that you like but which draw attention; even 2 is 1 too many. You can repeat 'great' a thousand times, although it's boring. But say "AWESOME" twice in the text and you've defined yourself as a writer and a person.

Less is more: cut out 3 plain adjectives or adverbs and replace it with one perfect one. Yes, you can use a thesaurus. Yes, uncommon words are fine if they really fit and if you don't overuse them. Keep your sentences short and clean.

Derek Murphy is a writer, editor and fine artist (http://www.derekmurphyart.com). He's currently an editor with Paper Perfect editing company (http://www.paper-perfect-editing.com).