Writer’s Web: The Essence of Writing Well as found within Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

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Recommended: Reflection on writing skills

The children’s novel Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White is not only an esteemed story of friendship, it also offers an illustration1 for what White considers to be good writing. Writing is like manufacturing textiles or creating a web, as it is something that takes skill to be woven and crafted. Although Charlotte’s Web is introduced to children in order to provide them with a heartfelt story of friendship and a base to strengthen their reading skills, the novel also explicates what it takes to be a good writer. The features that White exemplifies as characteristics of good writing in Charlotte’s Web are that good writing takes time to think about, is well planned out, is able to persuade, is concise, and is integrated and smooth.
Great writing, like anything of real value, does not just happen in an instant. Diamonds take time to form, people take time to grow, knowledge takes time to learn, and good writing takes time to think about2. It should incubate in the mind until it is ready to hatch, just like an egg.3 In Charlotte’s Web, one of the main characters, Charlotte, demonstrates that writing is something that takes time to think about. In response to Wilbur’s question, “How are you going to save me?,” Charlotte replies, “I don’t really know. But I’m working on a plan” (pg. 63)4. In this, Charlotte establishes that when one come up with an idea, they might not always know where the idea is going to go, or how it is going to get there. Therefore, Charlotte shows that one must take time to think about how to formulate their topic and writing, just like she must devise a plan to save Wilbur.
Alongside taking time to think about a topic and how it is going to be explicated, good writing must be well planned out. It is easiest to w...

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...e manufacturing textiles and weaving spider webs, writing follows the same principle. If writing is not tightly woven with smooth transitions, ideas can fall through the holes in the weaving. Thus, leaving the audience missing ideas and concepts that the writer had intended to convey.
All in all, writing is a skill that has to be developed in order for one to write well. Writing is something that takes time to thing about and plan, is able to persuade, is concise, and is well woven. These elements are revealed in E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web as characteristics of good writing. The fact that Charlotte’s Web presents how to be a good writer, allows for children to develop good writing habits a an earlier age. Charlotte’s Web, a handbook for writing, hidden in an endearing story of friendship.

Works Cited

White, E. B. Charlotte's Web. New York: Harper, 1952. Print.

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