Is transparent writing the same thing as clear writing? Are either the same as simple writing?
A text is transparent when the writing doesn’t draw attention to itself. The most obvious example is the use of the verb “to say” in dialogue tags. We tend to read through “he said”, registering without noticing the information about who is speaking. But if you want the reader’s attention to be snagged, substitute another verb, for example, “he ululated.”
Evidently, transparent is not necessarily the same thing as clear writing. Writing may be clear and yet revel in the juiciness of its word choice, providing a feast for the senses and the mind. It may also be immensely complex in its length and sub-clauses and still be clear. To take just one example—the opening sentence of Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
One note of caution about transparency and clarity. These are not just features of the writer’s skill, but also of the reader’s and of the cultural moment. What is clear to some may not be clear to others. Anne Leckie points out that even if we have the translation of an ancient Babylonian story we lack the cultural context and the conventions to make it an easy read.
Neil MacDonald Author 