Blog 3: Objective vs Subjective Writing: A Perfect Balance

Let’s get this out of the way. Being objective is to have no emotional influences, opinions, or biases in what you are writing or saying. Being subjective is, well, basically the complete opposite. Your writing is open to having opinions and one’s feelings. When writing objectively, you solely basing everything you are say on facts and you are not taking a stance on any side of an argument. It is all black and white, “this and that.” Writing subjectively, that’s where you can say whatever you want. That’s where you can tell how you feel and take a stance on a subject. This is usually where op-eds stand.

Opinion-editorials are subjective. I mean, half of the name is in the definition of subjective writing. Most of the time a subjective piece will persuade to do something. A lot of the time it is understanding the author’s viewpoint. Most of the time a subjective piece of work will also try to do or feel something, but it really comes down to if the author got you to understand what they are saying. However, a good subjective writer, will have objective evidence in their writing. Subjective writing will have actual events that happened, graphs, and other cold hard facts. A subjective writer that does not have objective facts, will have a hard time getting their point across. Readers will say, “Okay that’s nice. Why?” At that point, you might just sound like a crazy person. Using objective writing in a subjective text is essential to even allowing a reader to open up their mind and allow more people to understand you.

I would say though, there are writers out there that are really good of making subjective sound objective. It is a very powerful ability to have not just in writing, but also life. Trust me, I work in a retail store, it is part of my job to know how to do this, so that way I can sell you something you don’t need while making it sound like you do. The reason I said it is a powerful tool and not necessarily a good tool, is because of how deceiving something like that could be. Someone that knows how to use this ability can manipulate what their audience into thinking that their argument or opinions are much stronger than they actually are, creating opinions and beliefs off of false claims. It’s like what Uncle Ben says to Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility,” and as a writer, it is their responsibility to use that ability to the best they can. Politicians are both the best and worst when it comes to using this power. They are the best at it because this is how they get people to vote their way and base beliefs off what they say. They are the worst at it because this how corruption and scandals begin.

When it comes to writing, there needs to be a balance between objective and subjective writing. It’s okay to write both subjectively and objectively. This very blog you are reading contains a little bit of both. There really can’t be one, without the other. If one were to not exist, then writing would just become letters on a piece of paper.