A very close friend of mine, Ian, is one of the smartest people I know. He is one of those guys that doesn’t study very often, but still scores remarkably high on tests. He also stays up to date on everything from yesterday’s politics to today’s new bands. In addition, debating is one of his strongest points. However, Ian is horrible at expository writing; it’s probably his worst subject. He’s skilled at math and science, but he lacks a lot of strength in English. Cobbett gave the controversial claim, “He who writes badly, thinks badly,” and another scholar, Safire, made the point that “learning to write clearly helps one to think clearly.” According to these people, Ian’s mind must be a cluttered mess. At the risk of sounding defensive due to the fact that my friend’s intelligence is being attacked, they cannot possibly be right, at least not entirely. Being well versed in the ways of grammar and vocabulary will certainly make you sound smarter, but it will not show whether you’re capable of effectively organizing your thoughts.
“But Zach, writing clearly and thinking clearly are obviously linked. Why is it that every person who publishes a book writes very clearly and effectively?” I must say that you’ve brought up a good point; however, I have a better retort. Winston Churchill, John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Picasso, Agatha Christie, Leonardo Da Vinci, and many other greats in history, all had one thing in common: dyslexia. Many of their peers actually looked down on them in their youths. Obviously, though, they managed to overcome those labels and excel well beyond anyone’s expectations. Thomas Edison once said, “My teachers say I'm addled . . . my father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided I must be a dunce.” Edison, as well as Churchill, Einstein, and the others, all had severe trouble with both reading and writing. Nevertheless, they are some of the greatest minds in history, which proves that a poor writer is, in fact, not a...